UC-NRLF 


D72 


-PLAYS 


ASH  FORD 


SENSE-PLAYS  AND 
NUMBER-PLAYS 


SENSE-PLAYS  AND 
NUMBER- PLAYS 

FOR  THE  SCHOOL  AND  NURSERY 
BY  F.  ASHFORD  B.Sc. 


BOSTON  NEW  YORK  AND  CHICAGO 

HOUGHTON   MIFFLIN   COMPANY 

STfje  Effoeratoe  ^teaa, 


PRINTED  AT 

THE  BALLANTYNE  PRESS 
LONDON  ENGLAND 


CONTENTS 


PAQB 

FOREWORD  7 

CHILDREN  OF  THE  PLAYS  11 

WE  MAKE  NECKLACES  13 

TOUCH-PLAYS  17 

A  TASTING-GAME  29 

SCENTS  34 

SOUND-PLAYS  40 

THE  SNAKE-GAME  50 

SOUND  ANALYSIS  OF  WORDS  61 

COLOUR-MATCHING  64 

A  TALK  ON  COLOUR  AND  OTHER  THINGS  58 
TWO   CHILDREN   TALK    IN   A   FREE-DRAWING 

LESSON  63 

A  PAPER-CUTTING  "MAGIC"  66 

NUMBER-PLAYS  69 

WEIGHING  AND  MEASURING  92 

ANOTHER  WEIGHING  94 


333819 


FOREWORD 

A  SYSTEM  of  educational  apparatus  simple  or  com- 
plicated, but  always  conventional  and  formal,  is 
being  advocated  by  the  followers  of  Madame 
Montessori  as  the  best  means  of  providing  for  the 
proper  sense-training  of  children.  It  was  invented 
in  order  to  enable  the  teacher  of  a  very  large  class 
to  have  at  hand  employment  which  the  individual 
child  could  find  for  himself  without  much  suggestion 
or  interference  from  without.  It  has  advantages — 
presupposing  a  very  large  class  and  a  large  amount 
of  imitativeness  and  docility  on  the  part  of  the 
children,  but  to  us  in  England  it  seems  like  a 
revival  of  the  old  '  Gifts '  and  '  Occupations '  of 
Froebel. 

The  twentieth- century  educator,  like  him  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  has  sought  to  crystallize  her 
ideas  in  a  scheme  with  a  particular  apparatus 
based  upon  the  scheme. 

Crystallization  means  constraint  within  boun- 
daries and  a  state  of  rest,  and  such  conditions  are 
inimical  to  life — the  fixation  of  the  apparatus 
marks  the  departure  of  the  spirit  which  brought 
it  into  being.  New  teachers  may  take  and  handle 
the  skeleton,  but  it  will  no  longer  have  life  or  soul. 
We  can  still  read  with  profit  Froebel's  chapter 
on  the  Boyhood  of  Man,  but  of  his  sphere,  cylinder, 

7 


8         SENSE-PLAYS  <§•  NUMBER-PLAYS 

and  cube  we  see  only  the  tedious  formality.  We  may 
gather  much  of  wisdom,  patience,  and  benevolence 
from  the  pages  of  Anthropological  Pedagogy,  but 
let  us  be  chary  of  insets  unless  we  cut  them  our- 
selves out  of  paper  or  dough,  of  fitted  cylinders 
unless  in  the  form  of  a  little  chalk-box  and  its 
lid,  or  of  sanded  letters  unless  we  want  to  cut  them 
out  in  sand-paper  for  ourselves. 

The  greater  part  of  the  apparatus  in  an  educa- 
tional storeroom  is  devised  in  order  to  interest 
children  in  subjects  for  which  they  are  not  as  yet 
prepared.  We  have  a  fancy  that  they  shall  appreciate 
geometrical  abstractions,  and  we  provide  correct 
cubes  and  spheres,  and  rectangular  prisms  empty  of 
all  interest  save  that  of  form,  before  they  are  capable 
of  making  an  abstraction. 

We  have  a  conviction  that  they  must  be  made 
to  read  and  write  before  they  show  the  least  desire 
for  these  accomplishments  or  are  able  to  visualize 
sufficiently  well  to  copy  a  letter  from  a  blackboard. 
Until  a  child  can  enunciate  clearly  he  has  no  busi- 
ness with  reading  ;  until  he  can  draw  with  a 
bold  and  easy  line  he  must  not  concern  himself  with 
writing. 

Destructive  criticism  is  of  little  value.  In  these 
pages  I  have  gathered  up  and  described  a  few 
sense-plays  and  number-plays,  most  of  which  can 
be  taken  with  quite  large  classes  of  children ;  in 
which  the  materials  used  are  common  household 
things  or  children's  natural  treasures  x  all  easily 
available  from  the  kitchen  cupboard,  the  wood, 
the  sea-shore,  or  the  hedge,  and  not  painstakingly 
1  See  Coventry  Patinore's  Toys. 


FOREWORD  9 

devised  with  mistaken  ingenuity  by  some  adult 
mind. 

Children's  play-work  at  its  best  is  expressive, 
or  constructive  and  purposeful.  But  to  express, 
one  must  accumulate  experience  by  instinctive 
action  and  imitation.  There  is  now  no  need  to  point 
out  that  the  child's  earliest  experiences  are  tactile 
and  muscular,  the  other  senses  being  more  or  less 
specialized  from  these  simple  and  diffuse  origins. 
Next  come  taste  and  smell  with  localized  and 
somewhat  specialized  sense-organs,  and  lastly  come 
hearing  and  sight  with  highly  complex  sense-organs, 
dependent  upon  so  much  earlier  experience,  and  in 
later  years  superseding  to  a  large  extent  all  the 
simpler  sensations. 

The  child's  first  experiences  and  first  pleasures 
are  the  warmth  of  its  mother's  body,  the  taste  of 
its  mother's  milk,  and  the  touch  of  her  smooth 
skin.  Our  babies  must  begin  by  holding  and 
handling,  stroking  and  feeling,  tasting  and  smelling, 
accumulating  thus  a  store  of  experience  which  will 
assist  them  to  interpret  objects  of  sound  and  sight 
with  speed  and  Tightness. 

By  means  of  these  little  plays  sensations  in  their 
likeness  and  unlikeness  may  be  accumulated  and 
compared,  the  simpler  first  and  the  more  complex 
later  on.  There  is  no  special  virtue  in  them  ;  a 
wise  mother,  nurse,  or  teacher  will  think  of  many 
more.  I  should  like  to  point  out,  however,  the 
simple,  homely  way  in  which  they  are  '  played,' 
for  that  is  the  secret  of  their  success.  The  children's 
talks  are  based  on  real  conversations,  the  characters 
are  those  of  real  children,  and  the  details  of  the 


10       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

descriptions  are  given  with  a  purpose.  It  should 
be  possible  to  compare  the  docile  imitative  attitude 
of  the  younger  ones,  who  spend  so  much  time 
repeating  what  is  suggested  to  them,  with  the 
more  positive  inventive  spirit  of  the  older  ones. 
The  age  of  the  children  is  not  precisely  given. 
Every  teacher  should  know  better  than  any  expert 
what  her  own  particular  children  are  capable  of 
doing  and  (to  some  extent)  thinking. 

In  these  plays  talking,  nay  shouting,  and  running 
about  are  freely  permitted  unless  there  is  a  serious 
obstacle ;  the  noise  and  movement  do  not  hinder, 
they  help  very  much  ;  more  especially  do  they  help 
the  younger  children. 

The  teacher  is  sometimes  an  observer  and  a  seldom 
interfering  providence  ;  sometimes  she  is  an  elder 
sister  playing  the  game  too.  This  role  is  her 
favourite  with  the  younger  children.  Her  presence 
is  a  quiet  stimulus.  Her  smile,  her  appreciation, 
give  an  additional  zest  to  the  games.  She  does  not 
wait  upon  the  children,  they  do  every  possible 
action  in  getting  out  materials  and  arranging  the 
schoolroom  individually — each  one  for  himself,  or 
helping  each  other.  The  children  are  consequently 
self-reliant,  handy,  and  are  developing  a  sense  of 
order.  They  always  tidy  the  room  and  dust 
their  chairs  and  tables  with  their  own  hand-made 
little  dusters.  The  schoolroom  is  their  room, 
and  they  rise  to  the  sense  of  ownership. 


CHILDREN  OF  THE  PLAYS 

YOUNGER  CLASS 
Ages  from  Four  to  Six  or  Seven  Years 

DICKY.  Excitable,  imaginative,  dramatic,  re- 
sourceful. Has  a  vivid  mental  life  and  free  expres- 
sion of  it.  Small  and  slender. 

NELLY.  His  sister,  and  a  year  younger.  Of 
similar  build  ;  also  quick,  excitable,  and  imagina- 
tive. More  docile  than  her  brother. 

JENNY.  Plump  and  rosy.  Vigorous,  dramatic, 
fond  of  directing  the  others. 

GEORGIE.  Plump  and  pale.  Externally  placid, 
generally  reserved,  observant,  and  when  excited 
reveals  much  unexpected  thought. 

SAMUEL.  Well-grown  and  normal.  Has  an  all- 
round  intelligence.  Even-tempered,  frank,  active. 

JOYCE.  Rather  overfed  and  pale.  Her  nature 
seems  to  be  curiously  warped.  In  moments  of 
self-forgetfulness  she  may  be  generous  and  amiable, 
but  is  usually  grudging  and  disagreeable.  She  is 
observant  and  reserved. 

JULIE.     Feminine,  intelligent,  irritable. 

PET.  Curled  darling.  Rather  over  the  normal 
in  size,  but  has  little  stamina  and  little  mental 
power. 

CHORUS  OF  OTHER  CHILDREN 
11 


12       SENSE-PLAYS  &  NUMBER-PLAYS 

OLDER  CLASS 

Ages  from  Six  to  Nine  Years 

MARY.  Quiet,  rather  backward,  "  good,"  too 
much  restrained  at  home. 

MEG.  Lively,  dramatic,  hasty,  and  inaccurate, 
but  energetic.  A  leading  spirit. 

PATTY.  Vain,  without  good  looks,  self-conscious, 
affectionate,  inclined  to  fall  out  with  the  others, 
sometimes  disagreeable  to  them. 

JACK.  Straightforward,  unselfish,  peculiarly  irri- 
tated by  Patty,  who  is  related  to  him.  Undisciplined 
at  home. 

ERIC.  Slow  and  solid.  The  pleasures  of  appetite 
appear  to  be  his  greatest  diversion. 

HENRY.  Accurate,  dogmatic,  critical.  Seems  at 
present  to  have  no  emotional  life. 

CHRISTOPHER.  Interested,  slow  to  develop,  but 
very  promising.  Left-handed.  Has  a  knack  of 
learning  through  doing  things  the  wrong  way  first. 
His  mistakes  are  wonderfully  ingenious. 

JIMMY.  A  somewhat  ill-nourished  and  uncared- 
for  child.  Affectionate,  more  influenced  by  en- 
couragement than  blame.  Desirous  of  notice. 
Somewhat  crafty. 

CHORUS  OF  OTHER  CHILDREN 


WE  MAKE  NECKLACES 

I  HAVE  a  box  of  large  round  glass  beads  ;    it  is  a 
tin  box.     I  keep  it  closed. 

"  Guess  what's  in  this  box  !  " 

"  Sweets." 

"  No." 

"  Biscuits." 

"  No." 

"  Needles  and  cotton." 

"  No." 

"  What  then  ?  " 

"  Listen  !  "   I  give  the  box  a  shake. 

"  I  know,  I  know.  .  .  .     Glass  beads  !  " 

"  That's  quite  right." 

"  Are  they  for  us  ?  "  "  How  lovely  !  "  "  Can  I 
make  a  string  for  the  doll  ?  " 

''  What  will  you  want  besides  beads  ?  " 

"Cotton." 

"  I'm  afraid  that'll  break." 

"String."     "  And  needles." 

"  I  don't  think  you'll  want  needles." 

"  Shan't  we  ?  " 

"  Here's  a  ball  of  thin  string.  You  can  come 
out  and  cut  off  a  piece  presently  when  you've 
thought  how  much  you'll  want."  There  is  a  quiet 
interval. 

"  I've  thought." 

13 


14       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  Come  along  then.  You  know  where  the  scissors 
are  kept." 

"  Now  can  I  have  the  beads.  I'm  the  very 
first." 

"  Take  as  many  as  you  can  hold  in  your  two 
hands." 

The  quick,  excitable  little  Dicky  puts  his  string 
in  his  mouth  and  makes  two  prodigious  grabs. 
Then  he  retires  quietly,  his  attention  entirely 
engrossed  with  holding  his  precious  possessions. 
He  runs  straight  out  to  me  again. 

"  Oh,  dear  ;  they're  rolling  all  about  the  table. 
Could  I  have  a  few  bricks  to  make  a  fence  round 
them  ?  " 

"  Yes."     He  runs  to  the  cupboard. 

"  Oh  !  There  are  those  tin  plates.  I  thought 
I  could  put  them  in  one  of  those." 

"  Give  the  rest  out  to  the  other  children,"  I 
suggest. 

"  Would  you  mind  looking  after  my  beads  then  ?  " 
he  inquires  ingratiatingly.  '  'Twould  be  a  pity  if 
any  got  lost." 

The  children  gradually  settle  down  to  stringing 
the  beads. 

'  *  Wet  the  end  in  your  mouth .  Look  !  And  make 
it  into  a  point,  like  this  !  "  cries  Samuel. 

"  Oh  dear  !  As  fast  as  I  put  them  on  they  run 
off  the  other  end  !  "  sighs  Nelly. 

"  You  must  make  a  big  knot,"  says  Julie.  "  Like 
this.  .  .  .  You  turn  it  round  and  make  an  '  O,' 
then  you  push  the  end  through  the  *  O '.  .  .  . 
You  try." 

Julie  enjoys  the  sense  of  superiority. 


WE  MAKE  NECKLACES  15 

"  Like  this  ?  " 

"  Yes,  then  like  this  !  " 

"  'Tisn't  any  good." 

"  Choose  a  bead  with  a  little  hole." 

"  I  can't  get  the  string  through." 

"  I  will !  .  .  .  No,  I  can't.  It's  too  wet  and 
squashy." 

"  Will  you  ?  "  she  asks  me. 

I  cut  off  the  unpleasant  end  and  thread  the  bead. 

Nelly  dances  back  to  her  place  with  it. 

They  take  a  good  deal  of  time.  Very  few  require 
any  assistance  from  me  ;  they  show  each  other, 
but  I  prevent  any  lazy  people  from  letting  others 
actually  do  their  work. 

Gradually  they  finish,  and  tie  the  final  knots  with 
great  care  and  solemnity. 

"  I've  tied  three  knots  one  top  t'other  at  each 
end,"  cries  Dicky.  "  They're  beautifully  strong." 

"  Now  count  your  beads,  and  see  who  was  able 
to  grab  the  most." 

They  all  count  aloud,  pulling  the  beads  along 
the  string.  After  one  or  two  false  starts  they 
announce  the  results. 

Joyce's  hands  were  the  largest,  but  she  hadn't 
the  most  beads. 

"  I  wonder  why  that  was." 

"  She's  got  slippery  fingers  ;  they  all  ran  out." 

"  She  didn't  squeeze  them  tight  enough." 

"  She  left  holes  for  them  to  run  through." 

The  handy  and  acquisitive  Samuel  had  con- 
trived to  retain  the  largest  number.  He  hung 
his  beads  round  his  neck  and  swaggered  up  and 
down. 


16       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  He's  the  richest  man.  He's  got  the  longest 
gold  chain,"  I  remark. 

So  he  chants  as  he  walks  : 

"  I'm  the  richest  man.  I've  got  the  longest  gold 
chain." 

Pet  has  lost  half  of  hers,  and  we  have  a  hunt  on 
the  floor,  pretending  we  are  the  ants  in  the  story 
who  found  the  pearls  in  the  wood.  We  pick  all 
up  and  run  and  drop  them  in  a  tin  plate. 

"  One,  two,  three  .  .  .  twenty-four." 

"  Fancy,  some  people  dropped  twenty -four  beads," 
cries  Georgie. 


TOUCH-PLAYS 


WE  have,  naturally,  a  school  rag-bag.  I  collected 
most  of  the  odds  and  ends  from  my  own  needlework 
and  from  my  dressmaker. 

I  begin  an  afternoon  by  saying,  "  Nelly,  get  me 
the  rag-bag,  if  you  please." 

Nelly  trots  across  the  floor,  tumbles  the  bulgy, 
scarlet  thing  out  of  the  cupboard,  and  holding  it  up 
by  the  throat  with  both  hands,  drags  it  into  the 
middle  of  the  floor.  She  unties  its  strings,  and  with 
a  big  pull  opens  its  gaping  mouth. 

The  others  begin  to  crowd  up  to  her,  but  I  motion 
them  back  to  their  seats. 

"  Find  me  some  bits  of  velvet,  Nelly." 

She  does  so. 

"  Now  choose  some  others  to  help  you." 

"  Dicky  !    Jenny  !    Samuel !  " 

"  That'll  do.  Let  them  help  you  to  show  the 
pieces  to  all  the  children  who  don't  remember." 

I  pick  out  some  satin,  calico,  and  flannel  from  the 
bag  also,  and  my  assistants  make  them  known  to  the 
children,  who  are  not  sure  of  the  names.  An  animated 
hum  of  conversation  is  kept  up  all  the  time. 

"  We've  finished,"  they  presently  announce. 

"Well,  then,  come  here  to  me,"  I  say,  "and 
bring  your  rags  too." 

17  B 


18       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  Now  you'll  each  want  your  treasure-bag — empty" 
I  say  with  the  air  of  imparting  a  State  secret. 

"  I  shall  put  my  things  on  the  top  of  the  cup- 
board," says  Dicky,  spreading  a  duster  on  a  chair. 

"  I  shall  have  a  tin  plate  to  keep  mine  from 
rolling,"  says  Samuel. 

"So  shall  I." 

The  bags  are  quickly  emptied. 

"  Now  all  you  others  will  have  to  divide  into 
five.  See,  I'll  count  you.  All  the  ones  run  to 
Nelly,  all  the  twos  to  Jenny,  all  the  threes  to  Dicky, 
all  the  fours  to  Samuel,  and  all  the  fives  to  me." 
I  count  them  as  quickly  as  may  be,  and  they  divide 
into  little  clumps. 

"  Don't  forget  who  is  your  captain,"  I  warn 
them,  "  for  you  must  all  run  away  to  the  wall  and 
come  back  to  him  when  I  clap." 

The  four  captains  hide  a  piece  of  velvet  in  their 
bags  ;  I  tie  the  strings  so  as  to  leave  a  convenient 
opening  and  so  as  to  prevent  their  contents  from 
being  disclosed. 

I  clap  my  hands  and  cry,  "  Ready  !  " 

The  captains  stand  firm  against  the  shock  of  their 
eager  followers,  holding  the  bag  openings  firmly 
with  both  hands. 

"  What  have  we  got  to  do  ?  "  cries  some  one. 

"  Why,  we  haven't  told  them  our  secret  yet,"  I 
say,  laughing.  "  It's  just  this.  You're  to  put  one 
hand  in  our  bags  and  in  my  box  and  guess  what 
the  piece  of  stuff  is  by  the  feel  of  it.  Whisper  what 
you  think  to  your  captain." 

"  P'raps  we've  got  a  snake  in  to  bite  you," 
suggests  Jenny  wickedly,  with  the  result  that  the 


TOUCH-PLAYS  19 

more  timid  ones  draw  back  until  some  bolder  spirits 
have  ventured  first.  The  guesses,  most  right, 
but  a  few  wrong,  are  communicated  breathlessly 
to  us  in  whispers,  and  we  nod  or  shake  our  heads 
as  the  case  requires. 

The  velvet  is  afterward  pulled  out,  named, 
exhibited,  and  felt  again  by  all  those  who  made  a 
mistake,  in  order  that  they  may  correct  their 
judgment.  The  children  are  then  ordered  off  to 
the  walls  and  corners  again  ;  a  new  material  is 
substituted  in  the  bag  and,  with  renewed  appetite, 
the  trial  is  gone  through  again. 

Then  we  have  a  little  joke  among  ourselves  and 
repeat  the  velvet,  with  much  suppressed  giggling. 
"  Whatever  are  they  doing  ?  "  cries  some  one,  but 
their  minds  are  not  sufficiently  subtle  to  suspect 
a  trick.  Suggestion  is  too  strong  for  most  of 
them.  They  have  already  had  velvet,  therefore 
it  must  be  something  else.  Only  a  few  of  these 
young  ones  place  sufficient  reliance  on  their  judgment 
to  say,  "  It  feels  like  velvet,  it  must  be  velvet,  it 
is  velvet."  When  they  do  so  they  have  achieved 
in  small  things  a  measure  of  self-reliance  greater 
than  many  adults  ever  attain  in  their  more  complex 
opinions  of  later  life. 

II 

When  each  of  the  children  remembers  to  bring  a 
large  clean  pocket-handkerchief  we  play  a  game  with 
a  few  children  blindfold.  They  are  to  recognize 
a  few  others  by  the  sense  of  touch  alone,  all  the 
rest  forming  an  excitable  and  critical  audience. 

The  whole  class  stands  in  a  circle  and  the  blind  men 


20       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

are  counted  out  with  some  old  counting  rime,  as, 
for  example,  the  gipsies'  rime  about  their  crock  : 

Eatie  oatie  my  black  boatie — 
Three  feet  and  a  timmer  hattie — 
OUT  spells  Out. 

The  man  who  is  "  out "  is  usually  selected, 
although  rightly  the  rime  is  repeated  until  only 
one  man  is  left  in. 

Six  blindmen  are  thus  picked  out  and  blindfolded. 
Then  we  have  to  choose  some  others  to  be  guessed. 
This  is  done  with  an  awed  silence,  for  by  no  sound 
must  the  blindman  be  assisted.  Only  my  voice 
is  heard  saying  the  counting  rime. 

"  Can  I  go  first  ?  "  pipes  up  Georgie,  the  usually 
silent. 

"  Oh,  you  stupid,"  cry  out  two  or  three.  "  They'll 
know  your  voice." 

"  Ssh  !  "  says  some  prudent  person.  It  is  im- 
possible to  recognize  a  "  Ssh  !  " 

They  feel  the  first  child  and  guess  her  by  a  very 
long  pigtail.  They  guess  the  second  by  his  wild 
curls.  They  guess  the  third  by  her  belt  with 
pocket  attached.  The  fourth  is  Samuel  with 
nothing  to  distinguish  him. 

They  feel  all  over  his  clothes. 

"Strap-shoes!"    "Socks!"    "Jersey!" 

"  Whoever  can  it  be  ?  " 

"  His  hair's  quite  short  and  ordinary." 

"  Here's  a  scar  on  his  knee." 

"  Everybody  nearly 's  got  that !  " 

"  Buttons  on  his  shoulders  !  " 

"  Pooh  !  that's  no  good." 

"  He's  a  bit  bulgy  in  front." 


TOUCH-PLAYS  21 

"  His  knickers  are  soft." 

"  His  face  is  quite,  very  ordinary  !  " 

They  become  too  familiar.  Samuel  screws  up  his 
eyes  and  blushes.  The  onlookers  are  much  amused  ; 
they  shriek  with  laughter. 

"  Yes,  his  knickers  are  velvety  and  up  and  down. 
I  know.  .  .  .  Corduroy  ! — That's  Samuel." 

"  Right,"  chorus  the  class. 

"I'm  the  only  one  to  guess  that  time,"  re- 
marks the  winner,  not  failing  to  pat  himself  on  the 
back.  .  .  . 

So  the  game  is  played  with  its  excitements  and 
discoveries.  The  class  is  the  critic — a  severe  one, 
who  keeps  the  players  at  their  best,  straining 
after  acuteness  of  perception,  training  and  teaching 
themselves  and  never  guessing  that  they  are  being 
trained  and  taught. 

It  is  a  game  with  many  possibilities.  For  a 
week  or  so  it  is  the  fashion  to  identify  coats  and 
hats  in  the  cloak-room  with  shut  eyes  ;  to  identify 
the  coarseness  of  sand-paper  by  a  tactile  impression 
— I  am  sawing  up  two-inch  wood  into  bricks  and 
hazel-sticks  into  pillars  for  the  children,  and  they 
are  sand-papering  the  ends — to  compare  the  *  feel ' 
of  sand  and  clay,  of  the  paper  they  draw  on  and  the 
paper  they  write  on ;  to  rhapsodize  over  dear 
pussy's  soft  coat  or  the  rabbit's  woollier  clothing  ; 
to  caress  the  doves  ;  to  treasure  up  dear  dicky- 
bird's feathers  or  a  lock  of  lamb's  wool ;  to  cry  out 
against  the  nasty  rough  bricks  and  bumpy  rough- 
cast of  the  outer  walls  ;  to  polish  and  handle  their 
little  pebbles ;  to  admire  the  polished  walnut  of 
the  piano,  and  the  clear  glaze  of  our  Devon-ware 


22       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

vases  ;  to  cherish  woolly  leaves  or  silky  or  smooth 
ones  ;  to  lay  the  cool  delicacy  of  a  pansy  petal 
against  the  cheek  ;  to  argue  about  the  relative 
roughness  of  bath-towels  and  blankets  and  door- 
mats ;  to  live  in  an  ever-widening  world  of  tactile 
interests  on  which  the  power  of  accurate  and  keen 
visual  observation  may  be  built  up. 


Ill 

One  day  I  said  to  the  older  children :  "  I  wish  we 
had  a  lot  of  little  cushions  made  of  different  materials 
for  the  little  ones  to  play  with.  We've  a  nice 
basket  we  could  keep  them  in.  I  want  little 
cushions  of  velvet  and  satin  and  silk  and  flannel 
and  serge- " 

"  And  flannelette  !  " 

"  And  calico  !  " 

"  And  pretty-coloured  casement-cloth  !  " 

"  We  could  make  some." 

"  How  big  ?  " 

"  Four  inches  square." 

"  We  can  bring  bits." 

"  Get  some  out  of  the  rag-bag." 

"  We've  got  nothing  to  stuff  them  with  !  " 

"  The  little  ones  will  pick  out  some  woolly  cloth, 
unravel  it,  I  mean,  and  make  fluff  for  you." 

"  That  'ud  be  lovely." 

"  When  can  we  begin  ?  "  "  Can't  we  begin 
now  ?  " 

"  When  we've  remembered  to  bring  the  pieces," 
said  Henry  soberly.  "  And  some  of  you  will 
jiever  remember." 


TOUCH-PLAYS  23 

'*  I'm  going  to  write  it  on  a  piece  of  paper  now, 
so  there  !  "  said  Meg  fiercely,  "  and  put  it  in  my 
pocket."  Flushed  and  hasty  she  writes  : 

"  Rags  for  cushions." 

The  pieces  were  soon  brought  in  spite  of  Henry's 
gloomy  forecast.  We  selected  the  suitable  ones  ; 
they  must  not  be  too  thin.  One  or  two  children 
heated  the  toy  irons  at  the  fire  and  smoothed  out 
the  creases. 

The  children  first  cut  out  paper  squares  for 
patterns  out  of  waste  paper.  Then  they  cut  out 
the  cloth  in  one  or  two  pieces.  If  they  had  a 
large  enough  scrap  and  decided  to  have  both  sides 
of  the  cushion  of  the  same  material,  they  cut  out 
one  piece,  folded  it  double,  and  stitched  it  firmly  on 
two  sides.  If  they  had  small  scraps  and  wished 
to  have  the  top  and  bottom  different,  they  cut  out 
two  squares  and  sewed  them  firmly  on  three  sides. 
These  simple  devices  required  a  great  deal  of  dis- 
cussion, argument,  and  forethought. 

"  It's  funny  to  be  sewing  them  inside  out." 

"  They  must  be  jolly  strong,"  remarked  Christo- 
pher, in  his  deep,  throaty  little  voice — he  imitates 
assiduously  an  elder  brother — "  or  the  stuffing'll 
come  out." 

The  sewing  was  finished  and  the  right  side  was 
brought  to  view. 

"  Oh  !  how  beautiful  they  look  now." 

"  Green  and  blue  ;  yours  is  very  pretty." 

"  Why,  yours  is  the  same  stuff  as  your 
blouse ! " 

The  little  ones  have  provided  us  with  soft  wads 
of  wool.  The  woodwork  class  has  sent  us  some 


24       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

sawdust.  These  materials  were  in  large,  flattish 
cardboard  boxes,  leaving  room  for  spilling  inside. 

"  Somebody  put  the  boxes  on  the  floor." 

The  first  child  to  come  did  it  while  the  others 
resumed  their  seats. 

"  Now  then  !  I  s'pose  we  can  have  which  we 
like  ?  " 

"  Certainly." 

"  Wool !  "  "  Wool !  "  "  Wool !  "  chanted  the 
majority. 

"  There  won't  be  enough  wool  for  all  those,"  I 
said. 

"  Sawdust !  "  "  Sawdust !  "  "  Sawdust !  "  chanted 
nearly  half  the  class.  Some  obliging  people  had 
changed  their  minds. 

I  held  up  my  hand  for  silence. 

"  I'm  going  to  mi*-  them,"  said  the  ingenious 
Christopher  in  the  lull. 

"  Sawdust  is  as  good  as  wool.  It  will  make  a 
hard  cushion.  /  know.  My  doll's  stuffed  with 
sawdust,"  said  Patty.  "  Sometimes  she  leaks." 

"  We've  got  a  hassock  stuffed  with  sawdust," 
said  Jimmy  the  clumsy-handed. 

"  I  should  suggest  that  Jimmy  uses  wool,"  I  said. 
"  The  sawdust  will  immediately  leak  out  of  the 
holes  he  has  left." 

"  There  !  "  said  Henry.  "  I'm  for  sawdust  because 
mine  is  certain  not  to  leak." 

They  had  to  take  it  in  turns  to  fill  their  cushions. 
Some  had  not  yet  finished  the  first  stage  of  the 
sewing.  Those  who  finished  first  came  out  first,  and 
perhaps  contrived  to  make  two  cushions  while  the 
others  were  doing  one. 


TOUCH-PLAYS  25 

They  crowded  round  the  boxes,  and  knelt  upon 
the  floor. 

"  I'm  going  to  put  as  much  as  ever  I  can  in  mine," 
said  Meg. 

"  You'll  bust  it,"  said  Christopher. 

"  Feel  mine." 

"  It's  as  hard  as  a  tennis-ball.  The  little  ones'll 
hurt  themselves  with  it,  if  they  throw  it  about." 

"  Yours  is  splitting." 

"  Not  much." 

"  I  should  throw  mine  in  the  fire  if  it  split  open 
like  that." 

"  I  can  sew  it  over  outside." 

"  Well,  you  might,  but  it'll  not  look  nice." 

"  Yours  is  thin  and  flabby." 

"  Shut  up  !     I  haven't  half  finished  yet." 

''  Well,  you  were  getting  up." 

"  I  wanted  to  stretch  my  knees,"  feigned  Patty. 

"  I'm  getting  up,  but  I'm  going  to  the  other  box," 
said  Christopher,  "  to  get  wool  now." 

"  Sawdust  in  one  half  and  wool  in  the  other  ?  " 

"  No,  mixed.     I  shall  shake  them  up." 

"  You'll  spill  them,"  said  Jacky. 

"  I  shall  hold  the  opening.  You're  spilling 
some  !  " 

"  I'll  get  the  brush  and  sweep  it  up." 

"  Shall  I  help  ?  " 

"  No  !  " 

"  Haven't  you  people  finished  yet  ?  "  I  said. 
[<  There  are  others  wanting  to  come ;  you  must  go 
back  now." 

"  I'm  ready.     Let  me  come." 

"  Let  me." 


26       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

The  first  ones  went  back  to  their  places  greatly 
preoccupied  with  holding  their  precious  cushions 
so  that  the  stuffing  should  not  spill.  With  great 
difficulty  they  turned  in  the  obstinate  edges. 

"  I'm  going  to  pin  it.  I  say,  bring  me  a  pin- 
cushion, Mary.  If  I  walk  about  I  shall  spill  my 
sawdust.  .  .»  .  Please." 

"  You  nearly  forgot,"  said  Christopher. 

"  Thank  you,  Mary  ;   you're  a  dear  thing  !  " 

:<  Will  you  help  me,  please,  this  cushion  is  very 
obstinate  ?  "  said  Patty.  Every  one  else  was  very 
occupied  in  the  struggle  with  the  refractory  material, 
and  I  went  to  help  Patty. 

For  the  sewing  we  had  darning  or  crewel  needles, 
and  a  variety  of  coloured  threads.  We  matched 
our  cloth  and  thread  ;  if  we  couldn't  find  a  match 
we  used  a  lighter  or  darker  shade  of  the  same  tint, 
or  found  a  good  contrast. 

"  How  beautifully  Mary  does  sew  !  " 

"  What  lovely  little  stitches,  Mary,"  cried  Meg. 
"  They're  all  exactly  the  same  size." 

"  Well,  yours  aren't,"  said  Jack.  "  Mine  are 
better  than  yours." 

"  I  know.     I  can't  think  how  Mary  does  it." 

"  I  know  why  you  can't  do  it ;  you're  sticking 
in  your  needle  and  watching  her,"  he  remarked. 

"  I  should  say  you're  just  as  bad,"  said  Henry, 
without  looking  up,  and  sticking  in  his  needle  with 
great  precision. 

"  Christopher's  stitches  look  like  a  row  of  crooked 
teeth,"  said  Patty. 

"  Shut  up  !  "  replied  Chris. 

"  I  don't  think  bright  green  and  orange  look  very 


TOUCH-PLAYS  27 

nice  together,"  pursued  Patty,  encouraged  by  his 
irritation,  leaning  over  him  and  dropping  her 
cushion  on  the  floor. 

"You  can't  talk,"  he  answered  in  a  huffy  voice. 
"  He,  he  !  Yours  will  look  lovely  when  you've 
finished  with  it." 

"  I  think  Mary  and  Henry  are  going  to  beat  you 
all  this  time,"  said  I,  and  every  one  quickly  settled 
down  to  work  again.  How  the  robuster  children 
hate  to  be  beaten  ! 

By  and  by,  after  Mary  and  Henry  had  stuffed 
their  second  cushions  all  the  others  were  finished. 
They  were  then  handed  round,  caressed,  patted, 
admired,  and  despised.  An  attempt  was  made  to 
play  ball  with  one  bad  one  ;  but  Jimmy,  who  dis- 
closed himself  as  the  maker,  promptly  put  a  stop  to 
that  diversion. 

Mary  and  Henry  got  the  basket  and  collected 
them  all. 

"  Oh  !  Don't  throw  them  in,"  cried  Meg  to  a 
careless  child.  "  If  they  drop  on  the  floor  and  get 
stepped  on  !  " 

"  I  lay  mine  in  carefully  in  that  little  hole  where 
there's  just  room,"  said  Willy  sweetly. 

"  And  I  balance  mine  on  the  very  top  of  them  all," 
cried  Christopher  boldly. 

"  And  I  bury  mine  so  that  they'll  have  to  search 
for  it,"  said  Patty,  enjoying  the  contrast  of  ideas. 

Then  Mary  and  Henry  took  them  to  the  little 
ones  and  came  back  and  told  us  how  pleased  they 
were,  and  how  they  ran  out  and  got  hold  of  the 
cushions  and  patted  them,  and  how  they  all  had  to 
feel  which  had  the  wool  inside. 


28       SENSE-PLAYS  &  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  Julie  said  she  was  going  to  make  a  little  hole 
and  find  out,  but  the  others  wouldn't  let  her  spoil 
one." 

"  They'll  find  it  rather  hard  to  make  out  mine, 
I  expect,"  chuckled  Christopher. 


A  TASTING-GAME 

ON  Shrove  Tuesday  we  were  going  to  make  pancakes, 
and  children  had  brought  eggs,  milk,  flour,  sugar, 
and  currants  and  sultanas. 

"  How  lovely  and  smooth  the  eggs  are." 

"  Let  me  feel !  "  "  Let  me  !  "  "  Me  !  "  So  the 
egg  went  round  from  hand  to  hand. 

"  Here !  Hold  it  carefully.  'Twould  be  awful  if 
you  dropped  it." 

"Oh,  that  would  be  an  end  of  everything,"  said 
Patty,  who  likes  to  exaggerate. 

The  egg  made  its  tour  in  safety.  I  was  glad  to 
think  the  shell  would  be  removed,  for  it  was  quite 
grubby. 

"  I  believe  I  could  tell  the  feel  of  sugar  and  flour," 
said  Mary  unexpectedly.  I  gave  her  an  encouraging 
glance  and  she  came  out  and  judged  correctly. 

"  I  would  like  to  taste  the  sugar,"  said  Willy. 

"  And  eat  it  all  and  then  there 'd  be  none  left 
for  the  pancakes,"  said  Jack.  Willy  looked  rather 
abashed. 

"  He  didn't  mean  to  eat  it,  only  to  taste  it,"  I 
said.  "  Perhaps  you'd  like  to  play  a  tasting -game 
before  we  use  the  things,  Willy  ?  " 

"  Oh  yes,  let's  !  "  they  chorused. 

"  What  about  the  pancakes  ?  "  said  Eric,  with 
practical  gustatory  views. 

29 


30       SENSE-PLAYS  &  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  We'll  do  both  !  There'll  be  time  if  we  begin 
at  once,"  said  Meg. 

"  Will  there  ?  "  inquired  Eric  of  me. 
'  Yes,"  I  replied. 

"  Well,  then ! "  cried  Meg  in  scornful  accents, 
silencing  the  objection. 

They  brought  out  their  spare  handkerchiefs 
from  their  boxes.  They  had  all  made  them  from 
cheap  muslin  at  school. 

In  order  not  to  delay  the  proceedings  I  quickly 
chose  six  children  whom  I  wanted  to  reward  for 
effort. 

Meg,  much  to  the  fore,  jumped  up  and  blindfolded 
them. 

I  gave  Henry  a  piece  of  paper  to  cut  into  four 
with  a  paper-knife — he  is  handy  and  careful — while 
I  got  salt  and  soda  from  the  kitchen.  Henry 
arranged  the  papers  in  a  row  on  the  table  and  put 
out  a  dessertspoonful  of  salt,  soda,  sugar,  and  flour 
on  each  of  the  four  paper  squares. 

"  This  is  more  fun  than  just  feeling,"  said  Eric, 
who  happened  to  be  blindfold. 

"  Depends  on  what  you  have  to  taste  !  "  said 
Jack  with  a  touch  of  wickedness  in  his  voice. 

"  Is  anything  nasty  ?  "  inquired  Patty  in  a  superior 
tone,  "  Because,  if  so,  I'm  glad  I'm  not  a  blindman." 

"  You  shut  up,"  said  Jack,  jogging  her  with  his 
elbow. 

"  P'raps  one  is  poison"  she  pursued  determinedly, 
in  a  much  louder  voice. 

The  blindmen  turned  pale.  Isolated  from  the 
world  by  the  loss  of  their  chief  sense  they  were 
filled  with  doubt  and  dread. 


A  TASTING-GAME  31 

"  What  a  goose  you  are,  Patty,"  said  I,  and  the 
blindmen's  mouths  resumed  their  expression  of 
cheerful  anxiety.  "  There's  nothing  that  can  hurt 
you  the  least  bit,  but  one  of  the  things  is  just  a 
little  unpleasant,  and  one  is  nasty  if  you  have  too 
much  ;  so  you  had  better  take  just  a  wee  pinch  of 
each." 

The  tasting  began,  but  Patty  had  been  aroused, 
and  intended  to  revenge  herself  on  Jack. 

"  If  Jack  had  the  doing  of  it  he  would  put  horrible 
things  for  the  poor  children  to  taste,"  said  she. 

"  Shouldn't,  then." 

"  That  would  be  a  nasty,  mean  thing  to  do,"  said 
Meg. 

"  Shouldn't, 'then,"  repeated  Jack,  much  ruffled. 

"  I  didn't  say  you  would  ;  I  only  said  it  would  be 
mean,"  remarked  Meg  judicially. 

"  /  said  he  would,  and  I  say  it  again,"  continued 
Patty. 

"  I'm  sure  he  wouldn't,"  I  remarked,  putting  an 
end  to  the  discussion,  "  and  anyone  who  wants  to 
spoil  the  game  by  quarrelling  can  go  out  of  the 
room." 

There  was  silence  till  the  first  tasting  was  complete. 

"Sugar!"   "Salt!"   "Flour!"   "Flour!" 

"  Flour's  right,"  chorused  the  children.  "  Fancy 
calling  it  sugar." 

"  I  couldn't  taste  at  all,"  said  one. 

"  You  didn't  take  enough  of  it,"  I  said. 

"  They  were  afraid,"  laughed  Jack,  recovering 
himself. 

"  Neither  could  I ;  so  I  just  guessed  and  it  wasn't 
right." 


32       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

They  tried  the  second  test. 

"  Sugar  !  "  said  they  all  at  once. 

The  next  produced  a  simultaneous  cry  of  "  Salt !  " 

"  Why,  I  believe  it's  too  easy  for  them,"  said 
some  of  the  onlookers. 

They  tried  the  last  test.  One  made  a  wry  face, 
another  spluttered. 

"  It's  nasty,"  said  most  of  them. 

"  /  rather  like  it,"  remarked  Jimmy,  who  wished 
to  be  peculiar. 

"  Well,  what  is  it  ?  " 

"Soap,"  said  one.  "Don't  know,"  said  the 
rest. 

"  Why,  that's  too  difficult  for  them,"  remarked 
the  onlookers. 

"  Soap  isn't  far  out,"  I  said.  "  It's  soda,  washing 
soda  ;  and  they  put  a  kind  of  soda  into  soap." 

'  Then  it  wouldn't  poison  you  to  eat  soap  ?  " 

"  No  ;  it  wouldn't  poison  you,"  said  I. 

"  But  it  might  make  you  very  ill,"  remarked 
Jack,  with  interest. 

"  Well,  no  one  would  want  to  eat  soap,"  said  Meg. 
"  It's  much  too  nasty." 

"  I  like  the  taste  of  soap.  I  always  lick  my  soapy 
fingers,"  persisted  Jimmy,  in  spite  of  disbelief 
pictured  strongly  on  the  faces  of  the  others. 

"  Now  let  me  be  a  blindman  and  try,"  they  all 
began  to  ask  ;  and  we  repeated  the  game  once  or 
twice  with  different  children  before  setting  to  work 
in  earnest  on  our  pancakes. 

The  Christmas  pudding  afforded  still  more 
exciting  material  for  a  tasting-game.  We  had 


A  TASTING-GAME  33 

raisins  and  currants  and  sultanas  and  candied  peel, 
flour  and  sugar,  bread-crumbs  and  chopped  suet. 

We  put  out  small  quantities  of  these  materials, 
storing  the  bulk  till  the  next  day  in  the  school 
pantry,  and  played  with  them  for  three-quarters  of 
an  hour. 


SCENTS 

ONE  day  Jimmy  waited  for  me  at  the  door  with  a 
big  posy  of  summer  flowers.  His  father  is  an 
enthusiastic  gardener  ;  it  is  a  pity  his  mother  does 
not  take  the  same  interest  in  her  children. 

We  went  in  together,  and  we  put  the  flowers  in  a 
big  jar  upon  the  low  table. 

4 '  They  do  smell  nice,  Jimmy.  .  .  .  Why,  you've 
brought  sweet  peas,  mignonette,  and  some  lemon- 
plant  (scented  verbena),  and  some  sweet  briar  !  " 

"  And  roses  and  French  marigolds  and  little 
sunflowers." 

The  children,  as  they  came  in,  crowded  round  the 
table. 

"  How  scrumptious,"  cried  Meg. 

"  How  pretty,"  said  Willy,  in  quiet  admiration. 

"  Every  sort  of  colour,"  said  Patty.  "  Every 
possible  sort  of  colour.  Yellow  and  red  and  pink 
and  blue  and  purple  and  white." 

"  And  green  for  the  leaves,"  remarked  Christopher. 

"  That  only  makes  seven  colours,"  said  Henry. 

"  And  cream-coloured  makes  eight,"  cried  Patty. 

"  That's  only  very  pale  yellow,"  Henry  replied. 

"  Well  ?  "  she  remarked  aggressively. 

"  Well !     I  don't  call  that  a  colour  !  "  he  argued. 

"  Some  of  the  sweet  peas  are  pink  and  blue  mixed," 
whispered  Kitty. 

34 


SCENTS  35 

"  Yes,"  I  said  to  her.  "  It's  difficult  to  decide 
what  colour  they  are." 

"  Pale  violet." 

"  I  know — mauve,"  said  Patty. 

"  Mauve,  what  an  idiotic  word,"  said  Jack. 

"  It's  a  real  word  ;  haven't  you  heard  it  ?  "  I 
remarked. 

:'  What's  this  one  called  ?  "  said  Mary  quietly 
to  me. 

"  Ask  the  boy  who  brought  them." 

"  Who  was  that  ?  "  they  ask,  looking  round. 
Jimmy  is  discovered,  modestly  blushing. 

"  Jimmy  !  "  say  they,  slightly  disappointed.  He 
has  not  a  high  reputation  amongst  them. 

"  It  was  very  kind  of  him,"  said  Jack,  determined 
to  be  just. 

Jimmy  beamed  in  reply. 

"  Well,  what's  the  name,  Jimmy  ?  "  repeated 
Mary  gently. 

"  French  marigold,"  he  replied,  swaying  his  body 
to  and  fro  with  pleasure. 

"  /  should  like  to  do  nothing  but  look  at  those 
flowers  all  the  afternoon,"  cried  Meg. 

:<  Well,  you  can  go  and  do  it.  But  you'd  wriggle 
after  five  minutes,"  said  Eric. 

"  Let's  do  something  new  with  them,"  she  con- 
tinued, disregarding  him. 

"Draw  them." 

"  Draw  them  .  .  .  she  calls  that  new  !  "  said 
Jack  to  Patty. 

"  Sh  !  Let  me  think.  Oh  dear,  do  be  quiet — 
I  nearly  had  an  idea,"  said  Meg. 

They  all  laughed. 


36       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  Couldn't  we  feel  them  and  guess  what  they  are 
like  we  used  to  do  ?  "  she  suggested  dreamily. 

"  Too  easy,"  said  Henry  decidedly. 

"  We  haven't  used  our  blindfold  handkerchiefs 
for  ages,"  said  Mary. 

We  tried  it,  but  Henry  was  quite  right ;  they  had 
outgrown  it. 

"  We  can  all  guess  right,  and  that's  very  dull," 
declared  Patty. 

"  I  think  I  like  guessing  right,"  said  Kitty, 
shaking  her  curls. 

"  You  were  wrong  once — and  the  only  one,"  said 
Henry  critically. 

"  But  I  was  right  four  times,"  she  contested  with 
a  little  spirit. 

"  What's  this  leaf  that  smells  so  ?  " 

"  Lemon-plant,"  answered  Jimmy. 

"  I  know  ;  we'll  have  a  smelling -game,"  yelled 
Meg.  "  Why  didn't  I  think  of  it  before  ?  " 

"  Don't  take  those  leaves ;  they're  not  yours," 
said  Jimmy  fiercely  to  Jack,  who  was  stripping  the 
lemon-plant. 

"  You're  spoiling  that  branch,"  I  said  severely. 
"  Put  down  the  leaves." 

We  chose  blindmen.  And  seven  boys  and  girls 
went  to  fill  seven  jam-pots  with  water,  and  arranged 
them  on  the  table. 

The  handkerchiefs  were  adjusted,  and  Jimmy 
proudly  arranged  a  selection  of  flowers  in  the  jars. 
Two  sweet  peas  in  the  first  and  fourth,  the  lemon- 
plant  in  the  second,  the  sweet  briar  in  the  third,  the 
roses  in  the  fifth,  the  marigolds  in  the  sixth,  the  sun- 
flowers in  the  seventh. 


SCENTS  37 

He  whispered  to  me,  "  They  won't  guess  there 
are  two  lots  of  sweet  peas.  That'll  puzzle  them." 

"  Why,  Jimmy,  you've  put  .  .  .  don't  you  see 
what  you've  done  ?  "  called  out  Meg. 

"  Ssh  !  "  said  Jimmy  angrily. 

"  Put  your  hands  behind,  so  that  you  can't 
possibly  touch,"  called  Henry  to  the  blindmen. 

Jimmy  said  "  Number  one,"  and  led  them  to  it. 
They  took  their  turns  at  sniffing. 

"  Rose."  "  Sweet  pea."  "  Sweet  pea,"  "  Sweet 
pea."  "Sunflower."  .  .  . 

"  Oh  !  "  "  Oh  !  "  in  chorus  from  the  onlookers. 

"  Three  right.     Sweet  pea's  right,"  said  Jimmy. 

"  Who's  keeping  the  score  ?  "  I  inquire. 

"  I  will,"  cried  Meg,  and  flew  to  the  cupboard  for 
pencil  and  scrap  of  paper. 

"  Number  two,"  announced  Jimmy. 

The  first  blindman  sniffed  and  contemplated  his 
sensations  for  a  whole  minute. 

"  Well  ?  "  inquired  Jimmy. 

"  Sweet  briar."   "  Sweet  briar."   "  Lemon-plant." 

"  I  dunno.     Lemon-plant."     "  Sweet  briar." 

"  Lemon-plant's  right." 

"  Only  two  right  this  time.  Put  it  down,  Meg. 
I  was  one,"  said  Jack. 

"  Number  three,"  said  Jimmy,  hauling  them  up 
to  it. 

"  Don't  pull  me  over,"  said  a  ruffled  blindman. 

They  all  guessed  sweet  briar. 

"  They  knew  it  couldn't  be  lemon-plant,"  said 
Patty. 

"  Number  four,"  announced  Jimmy. 

"  Hose."  "  Rose." 


38       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 


"  It's  awfully  like  sweet  pea,"  said  Jack,  after 
long  thought.  Then  he  said  undecidedly,  "  Rose." 

The  others  all  laughed. 

"  Rose,"  "  Rose,"  said  the  last  two,  with  some 
hesitation. 

"  All  wrong,"  said  Jimmy. 

The  blindmen  let  their  jaws  drop. 

"  It's  another  sweet  pea,  clever,"  said  Jimmy 
very  sweetly. 

"  I  did  say  that,"  said  Jack,  but  no  notice  was 
taken  of  him. 

"  'Tisn't  fair,"  said  the  others. 

"  Why  not  ?  "  said  Jimmy.  "  'Tis  fair,  isn't  it  ?  " 
he  inquired  of  me. 

"  Of  course,"  I  said,  laughing.  "  They're  only 
upset  because  they  were  taken  in." 

The  marigolds  were  a  puzzle. 

"  They  smell  very  strong." 

"  Nasty,  /  think." 

"  I  Uke  it  better  than  any." 

"  You're  pretending  you  do.  You  wouldn't  if 
you  sniffed  it  as  hard  as  I  did." 

"  Sunflower."  "  Sunflower."  "  Marigold."  "  Mari- 
gold." "  Rose." 

"  Goodness,  she  calls  it  a  rose  !  "  said  Jimmy. 

The  last  child  is  evidently  defective  in  this  sense 
and  must  have  more  opportunities  than  the  others, 
for  she  is  not  afflicted  with  a  cold.  People  with 
colds  must  not  be  allowed  to  smell  flowers  for  fear 
of  infecting  others. 

Jack  gave  a  big  sneeze. 

"  That  old  marigold  smell  tickles  my  nose,"  he 
said. 


SCENTS  39 

They  all  guessed  the  sunflower  right. 

"  Now  be  unblinded,"  I  said,  and  several  children 
offered  to  untie  the  knots. 

"  Pouf.  It  was  hot  inside  that  thing,"  said 
Jack. 

"  Smell  the  flowers  again  now 'you  can  see  them," 
I  said,  "and  then  you'll  know  them  better  next 
time." 

"  Now  may  I  have  a  turn  ?  "  "  May  I  ?  "  "  May 
I  ?  "  clamour  the  others,  but  I  solve  the  difficulty 
by  letting  each  blindman  choose  another  to  take 
his  place. 

One  wintry  day  we  had  spices  to  smell — cloves 
and  cinnamon,  tea  and  coffee,  and  a  very  little 
pepper.  On  another  occasion  we  had  onions  and 
apples  and  oranges,  sliced  potatoes  and  cabbage  ; 
on  yet  another  methylated  spirit,  turpentine, 
paraffin,  linseed  oil,  and  eau-de-Cologne. 


SOUND-PLAYS 


THE  sense  of  hearing  apart  from  the  musical  sense 
may  be  developed  by  several  informal  plays. 

One  day  after  a  rather  noisy  lesson  I  said,  "  Now 
then,  let's  be  as  quiet  as  the  sleeping  castle  in 
'  Briar  Rose/  so  that  you  can  all  hear  yourselves 
breathe,  like  the  Prince  did.  .  .  . 

"  Are  you  ready  ?     One  .  .  .  two  .  .  .  three." 

Some  one  squeaked  a  chair. 

"  Dicky,  you  spoilt  it,"  grumbled  Pet. 

"  Now  you're  spoiling  it  worse,"  said  Nelly, 
championing  Dicky. 

"  What  about  you  ?  "  replied  Pet,  and  I  felt 
that  the  endless  circle  had  begun. 

"  Sh  !  Sh  !  "  I  said,  and  then  whispered,  "  You're 
to  be  really  most  mousy  quiet,  as  long  as  I  hold  up 
my  hand." 

I  waited  a  moment  and  then  raised  it.  A  restful 
silence  prevailed,  while  eyes  brightened  and  ears 
strained  at  attention. 

Presently  I  lowered  my  hand.  The  noise  broke 
forth  like  water  from  a  sluice-gate. 

"  I  did."  "  I  could."  "  I  couldn't."  "  I  couldn't 
hear  a  thing."  "  I  could  hear  the  fire  go  crack." 

"  Let's  try  again,"  I  said,  and  presently  raised 
my  hand  again  for  a  minute  or  rather  more.  .  .  . 

40 


SOUND-PLAYS  41 

"  I  did  then."     "  I  did  ever  so  loud." 

"  Now  rest  your  head  against  the  next  child's 
chest.  You  can  take  turns,"  I  said. 

"  You  and  me,"  "  I  haven't  got  anyone," 
"  Come  here,  then,"  and  similar  cries  echoed  about 
the  room. 

Then  I  signalled  for  the  refreshing  silence. 

"  Oh,  there's  such  funny  noises  !  " 

"  What  did  you  hear  ?  " 

"  I  heard  a  rushy  noise  like  water." 

"  I  heard  a  thumpy  noise." 

"  I  heard  both." 

"  I  heard  a  funny  old  roar." 

"  She's  got  a  thing  inside  her  that  goes — Bump  ! 
Bump  !  Bump  !  " 

"  Anyone  know  what  that  is  ?  "  I  inquired. 

"  Stomick." 

"  I  heard  it  one  day  inside  Pussy,  too — ever  so 
fast,"  said  some  one  eagerly ;  "  but  she  scratched 
me." 

:<  When  I  was  running  I  stood  still,  and  it  went 
Bang-a-bang-a-bang  !  And  Dad  said  'twas  my  heart 
beating,"  cried  Dicky,  tumbling  out  his  words  in 
haste.  "  I  thought  it  was  just  myself." 

The  others  began  thumping  on  their  knees  with 
their  fists,  saying  "  Bang-a-bang-a-bang  !  " 

I  waited  a  little  until  the  noise  subsided. 

1  Tom's  got  an  awful  rushy  noise  inside  him. 
It's  in  his  throat,  and  it  makes  him  cough,"  an- 
nounced some  one. 

"  He  has  a  cold,"  "  It's  his  cold,"  said  several. 

"  Joyce  laughed   and    it  made    a  awful   funny 


42       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  That's  her  wind  going  in  and  out ;    her  bref 
I  mean,"  said  Jenny. 

"  I  don't  breave  when  I  laugh,"  asserted  Joyce. 
"  Yes,  you  do." 


Another  time  in  search  of  quiet  I  held  up  a  loud- 
ticking  watch  and  waited  till  every  one  could  hear 
it,  and  on  one  occasion  we  all  contrived  to  hear  a 
pin  drop  from  a  good  height  to  the  tiles  round  the 
fireplace. 

II 

Another  day  I  sent  Pet  out  of  the  room ;  Pet  had 
been  unduly  sat  upon  by  the  others,  and  was  in 
danger  of  losing  her  self-respect.  So  I  showed  her 
how  to  hide  away  the  big  watch  where  it  couldn't 
be  seen. 

She  then  called  in  the  children,  and  I  whispered 
to  her,  "  Tell  them  the  watch  is  hidden  away." 

"  The  watch  is  hidden  away." 

"  They're  to  find  it  by  hearing  the  ticks,  and 
when  they've  found  it  they're  to  sit  down  on  the 
floor." 

"  You're  to  listen  for  the  ticks,  and  when  you've 
found  the  watch  you're  to  sit  on  the  floor.  .  .  . 
Sh  !  You'll  never  do  it  if  you  talk,"  she  added,  with 
a  gush  of  self-confidence. 

"  Must  we  see  it  ?  " 

"  No  ;  you  mustn't  try  to  see  it." 

It  was  very  entertaining  to  see  them  bottling  up 
their  effervescent  chatter,  some  of  them  with  their 
fingers  on  their  lips,  tip-toeing  about  the  room  with 
great  self-restraint.  One  after  another  silently 


SOUND-PLAYS  43 

dropped  upon  the  floor  until  only  a  few  were 
left. 

"  Shall  I  tell  them  ?  "  whispered  Pet. 

"Yes,"  I  replied. 

So  she  fished  out  the  watch  and  handed  it  to  the 
first  finder,  Samuel,  and  said,  "  Your  turn  to  hide 
it  next." 

"  You'd  better  show  him,  Pet,"  and  I  left  her 
chief  tease  to  receive  instruction  from  her  mouth. 
He  submitted  with  a  very  good  grace. 


Ill 

When  we  were  having  a  quiet  rest  in  the  garden  one 
day  late  in  spring,  we  lay  and  listened  to  the  birds. 

A  lark  was  trilling  in  the  blue.  The  children 
first  heard  it,  and  afterwards  peering  and  blinking 
at  the  light  they  discovered  the  tiny  speck — only 
to  lose  it  again. 

"  Oh,  how  it  does  twitter  and  sing  !  " 

"  So  high  up.  Higher  than  the  highest  tower,  is 
it?" 

"  And  its  wings  beating  all  the  time." 

"  It  went  up  in  jumps." 

"  There  it  is  again,  coming  down  !  Oh,  ever  so 
quick  !  " 

"  Where'd  it  go  ?  " 

"  And  it's  stopped  singing,"  said  a  disappointed 
voice. 

They  heard  a  blackbird  fly  squawking  out  of  a 
bush  in  the  garden  and  saw  it  rise  over  the  hedge 
to  the  field  on  the  other  side.  They  heard  a  starling 
trilling  and  chuckling  on  a  chimney-pot. 


44       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  But  we  heard  him  once  inside,  and  it  sounded 
much  louder." 

"  I  believe  he  thinks  he's  laughing." 

They  heard  a  swallow  twittering  softly  as  it  flew 
to  and  fro  to  its  nest  under  the  eaves.  How  it 
dared  build  there  I  could  not  imagine  ! 

"  The  swallow  just  sings  to  itself,  like  I  do," 
said  Nelly,  in  a  little  dreamy  voice. 

They  heard  the  church  clock  strike  a  long  way  off 
and  counted  the  strikes.  They  heard  a  breeze 
make  a  stir  among  the  leaves. 

*  The  leaves  are  all  whispering  to  each  other." 

"  Secrets,  I  'spect." 

"  You  can't  tell  what  they  say." 

"  Neither  c'nyou  !  " 

They  heard  a  couple  of  noisy  sparrows  chirping. 

"  We've  got  two  bad  sparrows  near  our  bedroom 
window,  and  they  quarrel  like  anything,"  said 
Jenny,  sitting  up  suddenly.  "  They  are  rude  to 
each  other." 

Presently  two  crows  flew  over  us  with  a  quiet 
"  Croak-croak." 

"  That  means  bad  luck  to  somebody  here,"  said 
Joyce. 

"  They're  only  grunting  to  each  other,"  said 
Dicky. 

"  Nem'  mind  ;  it's  bad  luck,"  said  Joyce,  with 
satisfaction.  "  I  'spect  somebody  here'll  be  killed 
with  a  bow  and  arrow  like  the  cock-sparrow." 

"  The  robin  you  mean''  said  Julie  scornfully. 

Next  a  thrush  tuned  up  very  prettily  in  an  oak 
near  by,  singing  charming  little  sequences. 

"  How  lovely  !  "  whispered  one  or  two  ;  and  then 


SOUND-PLAYS  45 

they  must  all  sit  up  and  find  its  sunlit  body  among 
the  boughs. 

A  hen  announced  her  egg  to  the  world  from  a 
distant  fowl-run,  and  her  ringing  voice  was  drowned 
by  the  rumble  of  a  cart  along  the  road. 

The  children  all  began  to  converse  in  a  soft 
dreamy  fashion. 

"  I  heard  a  bee  fly  quite  close  to  me.  He  was 
humming  loud." 

"  I  saw  him  ;  he  went  to  the  black  pansies." 

"  The  air's  all  full  of  little  winds  and  noises." 

"  There's  another  lark." 

"  Dear  little  dicky." 

"  I  heard  something  rustle  under  the  bushes." 

"  P'raps  'twas  a  mouse." 

"  Or  a  fairy." 

The  great  yellow  school  cat  emerged  by  degrees, 
stretching  his  forelegs  and  yawning.  He  shut 
his  mouth  with  a  snap  and  sat  down  suddenly 
as  if  to  say,  "  Movement  is  hardly  thinkable  on  such 
a  warm  afternoon." 

"  Lazy  old  thing." 

"  He  must  be  hot  in  his  fur  coat." 

"  A  funny  sort  of  fairy." 

"  What  pretty  talks  the  swallows  have." 

"  Who  taught  the  birds  to  sing  ?  " 

"  Nobody  teaches  them  ;   they  find  out." 

"  God  does,  of  course." 

"  D'you  hear  the  sheep  baaing — a  very  long  way 
off?" 

"  Quite  soft  and  pretty  for  a  sheep's  noise.  All 
the  noises  are  half  asleep  this  afternoon." 


46       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

IV 

One  wet  day  we  had  a  Beast's  Charade.  Each 
child  pretended  to  be  an  animal  and  the  others  had 
to  guess  which  he  represented.  The  noise  was 
generally  of  assistance. 

Samuel  walked  on  all  fours  and  roared  and 
pretended  to  devour  Nelly,  who  began  to  be  quite 
frightened. 

"  That's  enough,  Samuel,"  I  said. 

"  Tiger,"  shouted  one. 

He  shook  his  head.  It  was  a  rule  that  he  must 
only  nod  or  shake  his  head  ;  he  must  not  speak 
man-fashion. 

"  Lion,"  shouted  another.     He  nodded. 

"  Right,  right,"  said  the  guesser,  clasping  his 
hands  with  pleasure.  It  was  Georgie. 

He  proceeded  to  rush  about  on  all  fours,  to  toss 
his  head,  and  make  a  noise  that  had  some  resem- 
blance to  a  whinnying  horse. 

"  Sheep."     He  shook  his  head. 

"  Next,"  I  said,  for  we  were  taking  turns  to 
guess. 

"  Oh  !     /  know  !  "  cried  an  impatient  child. 

"  Horse,"  said  Joyce,  whose  turn  it  was. 

Then  she  began  hopping  round  the  room,  and 
cawing,  and  was  guessed  at  once. 

On  a  similar  occasion  we  had  "  Beasts  Truckle 
the  Trencher."  Each  child  chose  to  be  some  animal 
with  a  characteristic  noise.  The  child  who  began 
ran  out  and  turned  the  trencher,  and  imitated  the 
dog's  bark.  The  dog  rushed  out  and  caught  it. 


SOUND-PLAYS  47 

He  in  turn  said  "  Cock-a-doodle-doo,"  with  much 
realism,  and  out  rushed  the  cock. 

He  said,  "  Cuck-cuck-cuck-cuck-Coo  !  "  and  out 
ran  his  hen. 

We  had  a  horse,  pig,  cow,  sheep,  hen,  cock,  dog, 
cat,  mouse,  crow,  donkey,  turkey,  and  goose. 

The  game  could  be  played  (in  case  of  large 
classes)  with  different  groups  in  turn,  the  other 
children  being  occupied  with  quiet  handwork, 
drawing  or  sewing,  or  building  with  bricks  at  the 
other  end  of  the  room. 

Anothei  game  which  everybody  can  play  at  once 
is,  "  Who  speaks  ?  " 

The  children  stand  in  a  ring  with  one  blindfold 
in  the  middle  with  a  stick.  The  blindman  points 
the  stick  and  the  child  indicated  speaks,  disguising 
his  voice  if  possible,  and  the  blindman  guesses  who 
it  is.  If  he  cannot  guess  the  child  who  first  stood 
next  to  him  takes  his  place  ;  if  he  does  guess  he 
has  another  try.  This  is  the  most  satisfactory 
way  of  arranging  matters,  for  it  makes  the  blindman 
anxious  to  guess  correctly  and  the  speakers  anxious 
to  disguise  their  voices. 

In  "  Jacob  and  Esau  "  the  blindman  points  to 
another  who  slips  inside  the  ring,  and  who  answers 
"  Esau "  every  time  that  the  blindman  calls 
"  Jacob,"  thus  giving  the  blindman  a  clue  to  his 
position.  When  Esau  is  caught  the  blindman  has 
to  guess  who  he  is  by  the  voice  and  the  feel  of 
his  head  and  dress. 


48       SENSE-PLAYS  &  NUMBER-PLAYS 

In  the  ordinary  '  Blindman's  Buff,'  of  course, 
the  child's  ear  is  sharpened  by  listening  for  the 
movement  of  the  others.  This  game  is  only  suitable 
for  the  little  ones  ;  with  older  ones  it  is  generally 
spoilt  by  one  or  two  cunning  persons  who  insist 
on  being  caught  every  time. 


As  the  drawing  lesson  is  the  rational  place  for  the 
chief  training  of  the  colour  sense,  so  the  singing 
lesson  offers  the  most  important  training  of  the 
musical  sense.  Both  these  sides  of  our  sensitivity 
are  served  and  delighted  by  a  highly  developed  art, 
and  it  is  in  acquiring  the  power  of  simple  expression 
in  these  arts  and  in  learning  to  appreciate  beauty 
in  these  forms  that  the  child's  perceptions  are 
trained. 

The  actual  learning  of  songs  by  ear  from  the 
teacher's  voice,  beginning  with  simple  nursery 
songs  and  going  on  to  the  higher  examples  of  folk 
music  is  the  right  way  of  progress. 

But  in  the  singing  lesson  a  few  (but  only  a  few) 
pleasant  exercises  are  not  out  of  place. 

We  sing  down  the  scale  to  the  sounds  "  Ding- 
dong,"  pretending  to  pull  bell-ropes  as  we  do  it. 

We  discover  there  are  always  eight  bells,  and  a 
different  child  stands  for  each  bell,  and  pulls  it, 
sounding  the  note  when  his  turn  comes.  Then  we 
have  a  muffled  peal  singing  loudly  and  softly  by 
turns.  Or  we  have  an  echo  answering  the  loud  peal 
from  the  other  end  of  the  room.  We  have  a  good 
peal  of  bells  in  a  church  near  by,  and  some  of  the 


SOUND-PLAYS  49 

children  learn  to  imitate  the  changes  and  teach  them 
to  the  others. 

No  child  is  without  some  musical  sense,  and  the 
younger  ones  who  sing  a  great  deal  in  their  nursery 
days  soon  develop  a  good  ear. 


THE  SNAKE-GAME 

"  LET'S  all  catch  hold  tails  and  pretend  we're  a 
snake." 

"  What  does  the  snake  say  ?  " 

"  Sss  .  .  ." 

"  Are  you  ready  ?     We'll  aU  hiss." 

"  Don't  pull,  but  keep  close  together." 

We  begin  to  hiss  lustily,  and  I,  who  am  the  snake's 
head,  finding  my  body  rather  unwieldy,  contrive  to 
lead  round  until  we  have  made  the  snaky  letter  *  S.' 

"  We're  making  the  snaky  letter  !  D'you  see  ? 
We're  making  a  big  '  SS  '  ?  " 

After  a  good  many  contortions  the  snake's  head 
gets  a  little  out  of  breath. 

"  Shall  the  snake  go  to  sleep  now  ?  " 

Still  hissing,  the  head  runs  round  and  round, 
always  inside  its  own  tail,  until  the  whole  snake  is 
twisted  up  in  a  spiral.  Then  all  the  joints  of  its  long 
body  subside  upon  the  floor  and  the  hissing  ceases. 

The  snake  is  asleep. 

Sometimes  in  the  playground  the  unwieldy 
snake,  always  hissing,  tries  to  catch  a  little  rabbit, 
who  easily  eludes  it,  although  he  or  she  has  only 
got  two  legs. 

If  the  snake's  head  manages  to  catch  the  rabbit 
the  whole  snake  coils  up  round  him  to  give  him  a 
good  squeeze. 

50 


SOUND  ANALYSIS  OF  WORDS 

THE  sound  analysis  of  words  without  any  attempt 
to  write  them  down  is  a  very  important  exercise 
for  the  little  ones  and  should  be  frequently  taken 
before  reading  and  writing  are  begun.  Clear 
enunciation  is  essential  to  an  understanding  of  the 
written  word,  especially  those  simple  phonetic 
words  with  which  one  would  try  as  far  as 
possible  to  begin  the  reading  and  writing  exer- 
cises. 

The  children  stand  in  a  line.  Those  who  miss 
are  sent  dramatically  to  the  '  very  '  bottom  of  the 
class.  Those  who  enunciate  clearly  start  near  the 
bottom  of  the  line,  and  have  to  work  themselves 
up. 

(If  the  teacher  likes  she  may  provide  herself 
with  a  dunce's  cap  and  a  newspaper  stick, 
together  with  a  mock-severe  tone  of  voice  and 
frown.1  The  danger  is  that  the  chastisement 
and  dunce's  cap  may  be  a  much-craved  distinc- 
tion.) 

"Tell  me  a  word  beginning  with  'D'"  (the 
sound). 

"  Dog,"  "  Dunce,"  "  Dirty,"  "  Dinner,"  "  Tongs," 
come  in  rapid  succession. 

1  "  Full  well  the  busy  whisper  circling  round 

Conveyed  the  dismal  tidings  when  he  frown'd." 
51 


52       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

11  Tongs  !  .  .  .  Bad  boy,  go  to  the  bottom. 
Now  tell  me  what  tongs  does  begin  with  !  " 

"  '  T  '  "  (sound). 

And  so  forth.  Frequently  a  child  is  teacher  and 
takes  the  class. 

After  a  few  lessons  the  children  are  asked  to  give 
all  the  sounds  in  simple  words.  The  same  cere- 
monial will  stimulate  effort  and  interest. 

"  Give  me  the  sounds  in  the  word  '  dog.'  ' 

"  D,  o,  g." 

"  Give  me  the  sounds  in  the  word  '  cat.'  ' 

"  K,  a,  t  "  (I  use  the  phonetic  symbols). 

"  Give  me  the  sounds  in  the  word  *  man.'  ' 

"  M,  a,  n." 

And  so  forth,  increasing  the  difficulty  in  sub- 
sequent lessons. 

A  pleasant  variant  is  : 

"  Give  me  a  word  to  rhyme  with  *  man.'  ' 

"  Can."     "  Pan."     "  Fan."     "  Swam." 

"  *  Swam  '  doesn't  rhyme  with  man,  does  it  ?  " 

"  No,  of  course  not,"  say  all  the  others. 

"  Go  to  the  bottom  of  the  class  !  It's  dis- 
graceful !  " 

"  Ham." 

"  The  very  same  kind  of  mistake  !  We  want 
words  ending  in  *  n.'  Go  to  the  bottom  of  all  !  " 

"Tan."  "Bran."  "Han." 

"  That's    no    word    at     all.      Did    you    mean 


"  Yes." 

"  Very  shocking  mistake.     Go  to  the  bottom." 
&c.  &c. 


SOUND  ANALYSIS  OF  WORDS          53 

On    another    day    perhaps    we    make    nonsense 
rhymes,  each  child  contributing  a  line. 

I  saw  a  man, 
He  had  a  can, 
Oh  !  how  he  ran, 
And  caught  a  fan, 
Filled  up  with  bran, 
&c. 


COLOUR-MATCHING 

SOME  of  the  little  children  have  brought  red  apples 
to  school  for  drawing,  some  have  brought  green 
apples,  and  some  have  brought  oranges.  Those 
who  couldn't  bring  any  have  fetched  the  little 
cushions  from  the  play-basket  or  some  bright 
woolly  balls  that  they  once  made. 

They  are  drawing  on  cheap  grey-brown  paper 
with  coloured  chalks,  and  they  are  only  allowed  the 
three  primary  colours  to  begin  with.  They  share 
their  coloured  objects  one  between  two  or  three  or 
four  sitting  all  round  their  little  tables. 

"  Here's  your  paper  on  the  table,"  I  say,  putting 
out  the  sheets  in  three  piles  for  them  to  help  them- 
selves from. 

They  each  get  a  piece  of  paper  and  find  their 
chalk-boxes  in  the  drawer,  where  they  are  kept  in 
compartments  (A's  to  F's  in  one  compartment,  &c., 
for  they  are  all  labelled  with  the  children's  initials). 

"  I'm  going  to  do  my  own  orange  first." 

"  Isn't  it  a  fine  colour." 

"  It's  yellow." 

"  No,  'tisn't  then." 

"  Well,  what  then  ?  " 

"  Orange." 

"  That's  its  name.     Ha,  ha  !  " 

"  It's  the  colour  too.     Yours  is  too  yellow." 
54 


COLOUR-MATCHING  55 

"  Well,  what  can  I  do  ?     I  haven't  any  other." 

"  I'm  doing  something." 

"  Well — what  ?  "  in  a  challenging  voice. 

"  Look,"  with  a  touch  of  scorn. 

"  You're  putting  on  red.  It's  not  red,"  with  a 
greater  touch  of  scorn. 

"  Didn't  say  'twas  red." 

"  Now  I'm  smovvering  the  red  in  yellow.     See  ?  " 

The  other  child  looks  on  wonderingly. 

"  Isn't  that  lovely  !  " 

"  It's  streaky,"  she  replies  critically. 

"  Nem'  mind.  Sometimes  they're  streaky  inside. 
...  'S  better 'n  yours  anyway,"  and  he  turns 
his  back  on  her. 

The  child  on  his  other  hand  has  an  apple,  and  is 
energetically  rubbing  on  red  chalk  in  silence. 

"  'Tisn't  that  colour,"  says  the  critic,  smarting 
under  criticism. 

"  It's  red  !  "  he  replies  in  protestation. 

"  But  not  like  that !  " 

But  no  notice  is  taken  of  his  remark,  and  he 
turns  to  the  next  table  for  a  more  respectful 
audience. 

"  What  a  lovely  green  cushion,"  he  remarks  to 
Nelly. 

"  I  thought  it  was  blue,"  she  replies. 

"  /  don't  call  it  blue.  Let  me  show  you  how  to 
put  some  yellow  on  your  drawing." 

"  All  right,"  says  the  compliant  Nelly,  always 
rather  mistrustful  of  herself.  He  does  so.  "I 
don't  think  that's  very  nice,"  she  mildly  protests. 

"  Oh  well,  I'll  do  it  better 'n  that  in  a  minute.' 

"  But   you    mustn't   spoil   it.  ...     No !     Let 


56       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

me  do  it,"  she  pleads,  elbowing  him  out  of  the 
way. 

He  reluctantly  gives  up  the  yellow  chalk  and 
leaves  her  ;  then  going  back  to  his  own  orange 
he  sees  the  colour  wants  improvement  and  makes  it 
a  great  deal  more  life-like. 

As  soon  as  every  one  at  a  table  has  finished  they 
all  get  up  and  walk  round  and  compare  and  criticize 
the  work. 

"  That's  not  a  bit  the  colour  !  " 

"  That's  lovely.  ...  I  'spect  you'll  be  able  to 
keep  that  and  put  it  in  your  cover." 

(Each  child  has  made  a  brown  paper  cover  in 
which  to  keep  the  good  drawings  carefully.) 

"  Orange  is  much  difficulter  to  make  than 
red." 

"  What  do  you  call  Nelly's  cushion  ?  /  call  it 
green." 

"  /  caU  it  blue." 

"  It's  very  pretty." 

"  But  her  picture's  not  nice." 

"  He  wouldn't  let  me  do  it  by  myself,"  sighed 
Nelly. 

"  Do  the  next  one  by  yourself,"  I  suggest,  and 
then  they  exchange  apple  for  orange  and  cushion 
for  apple. 

"  My  apple's  green  and  pink,  too.  .  .  .  How 
can  I  make  it  pink  ?  " 

"  Pink's  like  this.  You  put  on  red  thin,"  remarks 
the  officious  one,  seizing  her  chalk. 

"  Nao !  "  she  squeals,  and  he  puts  it  down 
hurriedly  and  runs  off  to  his  place,  where  he  begins 
at  once  to  plaster  on  his  paper  a  very  fair  similitude 


COLOUR-MATCHING  57 

of  the  red  apple,  using  a  little  blue  to  tone  down 
the  red. 

Only  the  three  colours,  a  pure  blue  (ultramarine), 
a  yellow,  and  a  scarlet,  are  given  them,  in  order 
that  they  may  be  compelled  to  make  their  own 
secondary  tints.  A  greyish-brown  packing-paper 
is  to  be  preferred  to  ordinary  brown  paper, 
which  has  too  decided  a  tint  of  its  own.  A  cheap 
plain  buff  wall-paper  does  very  well. 

Brightly  coloured  balls,  fruits,  bright  flowers, 
not  too  delicate  or  small,  balls  of  coloured  wool, 
Teddy  bears,  rattles,  school-made  necklaces  of 
large  bright  beads  or  seeds,  cheap  and  brightly 
stained  wooden  toys,  a  wooden  doll  with  a  green, 
blue,  or  scarlet  frock  and  striped  '  pinny,'  a  nigger 
doll  in  striped  dress,  a  red-coated  wooden  soldier, 
an  air-balloon,  a  group  of  tiddly-winks,  are  subjects 
interesting  to  and  suitable  for  the  crude  but  lively 
colour-sense  of  the  younger  children. 


A  TALK  ON  COLOUR  AND 
OTHER  THINGS 

"  LET'S  get  out  our  treasure-bags  and  look  at  our 
things,"  says  Georgie  in  a  husky  important  voice 
at  my  ear. 

'  Very  well,"  I  reply,  wondering  what  he  is 
thinking  of,  but  not  asking  any  questions.  "  You 
can  get  out  yours  if  you  like." 

"  May  we  get  ours  out,  too  ?  "  says  Julie. 

"  If  you  wish." 

Georgie's  person  seems  to  be  swelled  out  with 
emotion.  His  inflated  chest,  his  bulging  cheeks, 
his  pursed  lips,  his  rigid  shoulders  indicate  a  high 
degree  of  tension.  His  eyes,  generally  half  hidden 
in  his  sere  wed-up  lids,  shine  with  unwonted  clearness. 
He  grasps  his  bag  firmly  by  the  neck  ;  he  parades 
to  his  seat  with  it,  his  right  hand  privily  seeking 
its  appropriate  pocket.  The  fingers  stray  about 
the  opening  and  at  last  dive  in,  bringing  out  some- 
thing hidden  in  a  tight  fist. 

His  figure  now  bears  great  resemblance  to  the 
Justices' ;  he  is  as  full  of  self-importance.  The 
other  bag -grasping  hand  meets  its  fellow  in  front 
of  his  rounded  form.  The  tight  fingers  undo  them- 
selves one  by  one,  and  he  reveals  a  piece  of  red 
jasper  and  a  fragment  of  transparent  yellow  flint. 

He  handles  them  with  both  hands,  and  admires 
68 


COLOUR  AND  OTHER  THINGS          59 

the  colouring,  and  then  becomes  conscious  of  a 
want,  conscious  of  an  unsympathetic  world  around. 
Of  what  value  is  a  possession  unless  it  excite  envy 
or  at  least  admiration  in  your  neighbour's  breast  ? 

If  at  this  point  I  had  said,  "  Throw  away  those 
horrid  stones,  Georgie,"  he  would  have  done  so 
in  shame  and  haste  to  be  rid  of  all  their  disappoint- 
ment. As  it  is  he  stands  irresolute,  blinking  his 
eyes.  (It  is  his  bad  habit.) 

Then  Julie  looks  up  from  a  surveyal  of  her 
treasures. 

"Oh,  Georgie  !  What  a  lovely  red  stone,  and  a 
gold  one.  Do  you  think  it's  really  gold  ?  " 

Georgie's  face  lights  up  with  a  sudden  smile  ; 
he  spreads  out  his  hand  and  gloats  over  his  beautiful 
possessions,  but  says  nothing. 

"  Oh,  Georgie !  Now  you've  got  all  colour 
stones,  haven't  you  ?  " 

"  Not  got  blue,"  he  replies  modestly,  "  'cept  blue 
slate.  'S  really  grey." 

He  opens  his  bag  with  pride,  and  arranges  all  his 
stones  upon  his  table. 

"  Not  going  to  put  out  seeds  and  things  ;  only 
stones,"  he  remarks. 

"  Only  stones,"  echoes  Julie,  now  a  thrilled 
spectator. 

He  places  in  order  his  red  jasper,  the  yellow  flint, 
a  little  pebble  of  white  marble,  of  green-veined 
marble,  of  red- veined  marble,  a  fragment  of  micaceous 
stone  which  glitters,  a  dark  piece  of  slate,  a  fragment 
of  bright  red  tile,  a  fragment  of  white  quartz,  a 
round  bit  of  bottle-glass,  green  and  translucent. 
"  I  like  the  little  white  one  best ;  it's  so  smooth 


60       SENSE-PLAYS  &  NUMBER-PLAYS 

and  pretty,  like  a  little  egg,"  says  Julie.  "  I've 
got  six  white  ones.  I  call  them  lucky  stones.  .  .  . 
Or  else  I  like  the  white  and  green,"  she  adds 
uncertainly. 

"  I  like  the  new  red  one,"  says  Georgie,  at  length 
drawn  out  of  his  silence.  "  It's  hard  and  it  won't 
write.  .  .  .  So's  the  new  yellow  one  ;  both  hard  as 
hard." 

"  They'll  have  to  be  your  special  private  ones," 
says  Julie.  They  both  handle,  stroke,  and  weigh 
them. 

"  Look  !  "  says  Georgie,  popping  the  jasper  into 
his  mouth.  It  comes  out  all  wet  and  as  it  were 
polished. 

"Oh,  how  lovely  ! "  squeaks  Julie,  doing  the 
same  with  the  flint. 

"  Ah  !  Don't  swallow  my  stone,"  says  Georgie, 
grabbing  it  when  it  reappears,  and  wiping  it  on  his 
knickers. 

"  Get  a  little  basin  of  water,"  I  suggest,  "  then 
you  can  both  dip  in  your  stones." 

Georgie  and  Julie  both  want  to  fetch  it,  both  want 
to  carry  it  back. 

"  We'll  have  to  take  turns  or  it'll  all  be  spilt." 

"  Me  first  then,"  says  Georgie. 

"  All  right,"  says  Julie. 

"  I  know  one  that'll  look  lovely  in  the  water." 

"  Which  is  that  ?  " 

"  My  round  green  one.  You  can  see  the  light 
through  it ;  lovely  green  light,  if  you  hold  it  up 
and  look  at  the  window." 

"  Let  me." 

"  Here  then." 


COLOUR  AND  OTHER  THINGS          61 

"  Oh,  Georgie  !  It's  a  lovely  green,  bright  and 
shiny.  Wait  a  minute,  I  must  look  again." 

"  Now  I  must." 

"  Where  did  you  get  your  new  stones  ?  " 

"  My  dad  found  them  in  his  pocket  yes'day. 
He  was  at  Yorkshire,  by  the  sea." 

"  Did  he  bring  it  all  the  way  back." 

"  Yes.     For  a  s'prise  present." 

"  My  dad  only  brings  me  picture  post-cards." 

"  I  got  that  green  one  myself,  at  the  sea,  at 
Torquay  ;  and  the  white,  and  nearly  all." 

"  I  wonder  what's  making  that  funny  waggly 
light  on  the  ceiling,"  questions  Samuel  in  a  very 
loud  voice  ;  he  is  doing  some  weaving. 

"  That's  a  Jack-a-Noddy,"  shrieks  Dicky.  "Some- 
body's got  a  looking-glass." 

But  on  inquiry  nobody  has. 

"  It's  a  fairy  light ;  a  Jack-o' -Lantern,"  says 
Jenny. 

Georgie  dips  his  hand  into  the  bowl. 

"  Why,  it's  all  broken  up  into  little  shivers,"  says 
Samuel,  in  astonishment. 

Julie  bends  over  the  bowl. 

"  Why,  it's  all  gone,"  say  several  children  at  once. 

"  What's  gone  ?  "  says  Julie,  awaking  to  her 
surroundings  and  looking  round. 

"  Why,  it's  come  again  !  "  cries  Dicky,  dancing 
with  excitement,  and  glancing  rapidly  about  the 
room.  "  I  b'lieve  I  know  where  it  comes  from," 
he  says  in  a  low  excited  voice.  "  Shall  I  whisper  ?  " 

He  runs  out  and  does  so. 

"  Yes,"  say  I ;  "so  it  is." 

Every  one  else  is  much  puzzled. 


62       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  I  'spect  it  is  the  window-glass  somehow,"  says 
Samuel. 

Georgie  looks  up  and  sees  it.  He  looks  down  and 
fishes  up  another  stone  ;  he  sees  the  ripples  on  the 
water,  and  then  glancing  up  at  the  squeaks  of  the 
others  he  sees  the  dancing  light  upon  the  ceiling. 

"  It's  the  sun  on  my  little  pond,"  he  says  de- 
lightedly, but  only  Julie  hears  him. 

"  It's  the  sun  on  our  bowl  of  water,"  says  Julie. 

She  takes  it  up  and  carries  it  out  of  the  sunlight. 
The  Jack-a-Noddy  shivers,  gathers  himself  together, 
and  gives  great  walloping  leaps  as  she  moves  along. 
Then  suddenly  and  silently  he  is  gone. 

The  children  greet  the  ridiculous  movement 
with  shouts  of  laughter ;  the  disappearance  is 
followed  by  silence. 

"  He's  dead,"  says  Joyce,  with  evident  relish. 
He  was  much  too  gay  and  frivolous  for  Joyce. 

"  No,"  says  Dicky,  "  I  won't  have  him  die ; 
he's  only  gone  out.  I'll  fetch  him  in  again."  So 
in  he  jumps  and  wallops. 

Then  ever  so  many  of  the  children  have  to  get  out 
their  tin  plates  and  make  other  Jacks,  and  they  have 
a  big  battle  on  the  walls  and  ceiling  to  the  shrieks 
of  the  delighted  spectators.  .  .  .  The  bowl  is 
forgotten. 

"  My  Noddy-man's  stopped  nodding  ;  he's  gone 
to  sleep,"  says  Georgie.  And  there  sure  enough  he 
is,  a  pale  stationary  disc  of  light. 

"  Wake  him  up,  wake  him  up ! "  they  cry,  and 
Julie's  fingers  break  him  into  a  thousand  flickering 
fragments. 


TWO  CHILDREN  TALK  IN  A 
FREE-DRAWING  LESSON 

THEY    ILLUSTRATE    THE    STORY    OF 
BRIAR  ROSE 

"  I  AM  making  the  green  grass  and  the  blue  sky 
first,  and  a  yellow  sun." 

"  Doesn't  say  anything  about  that  in  the  story." 

"  Nem'  mind,  you  always  have  them." 

"  I'm  going  to  draw  the  beautiful  Prince  coming 
to  Briar  Rose." 

"  I'm  going  to  draw  the  horses  and  dogs  asleep 
in  the  yard.  .  .  .  The  horses  are  brown  and  white 
and  the  dogs  are  black  and  white.  I  must  get  a 
pencil."  He  runs  to  the  pencil-box  and  gets  one. 

"  Briar  Rose  is  sleeping  on  a  sofa.  I  shall  make 
it  red — a  bright,  bright  red  like  a  poppy." 

"  There's  a  horse  leaning  against  the  wall ;  his 
head's  hanging  down,  but  he's  not  eating." 

"  The  sofa  has  gold  legs.  .  .  .  I  shall  get  a  pencil, 
too,  to  draw  the  curvy  legs." 

"  The  dogs  are  going  to  be  curled  up  on  the 
ground,  like  our  Nipper  .  .  .  but  he  barks  in  his 
sleep.  .  .  .  'Twould  be  nice  to  draw  a  bark." 

"  You  are  silly.     You  can't  draw  a  bark." 

"  I  know,  but  I'd  like  to.  ...  But  everything's 
quiet  now,  so  it  doesn't  matter." 

63 


64       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"I'm  going  to  give  Briar  Rose  a  green  dress." 

"  I  shouldn't." 

"  Well  !  what  would  you  give  her  ?  " 

"  A  gold  one." 

"  But  she's  going  to  have  a  gold  crown  and  gold 
shoes." 

"  And  I'm  going  to  put  a  gold  saddle  on  the 
King's  horse,  and  a  gold  collar  on  the  King's  dog." 

"  Don't  forget  the  yard's  all  over  grass." 

"  I'm  drawing  it  now  ;    it's  the  colour  of  your 
Briar  Rose's  dress." 

They  draw  in  silence  for  a  bit. 

"  What  are  you  drawing  now  ?  "  without  look- 
ing up. 

"  I'm  drawing  her  face." 

"  Let's  see.     Be  careful ;    you  must  make  her 
eyes  shut." 

"  That  dog's  eye  is  open,"  pointing  to  the  paper. 

"  It's  only  a  black  spot  on  it." 

"  I  b'lieve  you  really  made  a  mistake." 

"  Our  Nipper's  got  a  spot  on  his  eye.  .  .  .  He 
has  reelly.  .  .  .  Have  you  finished  her  face  ?  " 

"  Nearly." 

"  Oh !  What  awful  red  cheeks.  You  should 
have  made  'em  pink." 

"  They  aren't  awful ! "  with  much  chagrin. 
"  I'll  rub  off  some."  She  proceeds  to  do  it  with  her 
fore-finger. 

"  Now  I'll  draw  the  wall  and  the  gate." 
"  Are  you  making  the  wall  red  ?  " 
"  Yes,  it's  brick." 

"  And  outside  of  that  hundreds  and  hundreds 
of  trees  all  thick  like  a  jungle.  They're  green  of 


A  FREE-DRAWING  LESSON  65 

course,  with  dark  brown  branches."  He  scrubs  on 
quantities  of  green  chalk. 

"  That's  rather  nice." 

"  Yes.  Now  I've  finished.  ...  I  like  mine 
better 'n  yours." 

"  Mine  isn't  finished.  I've  got  to  draw  a  window 
and  curtains.  They'll  have  to  be  blue  ;  it's  the 
only  colour  I  haven't  used." 

"  But  your  sky '11  have  to  be  blue  ;  you'll  see  it 
through  the  window,  of  course.  ...  I  should  put 
on  some  red  and  make  purple  curtains." 

"  Well,  I  might.  .  .  I  might  make  a  cloudy 
sky." 

"  That  'ud  be  horrid." 

''  Well,  the  purple  curtains  'ud  look  very  grand." 

"  Now  will  you  print  *  Briar  Rose  '  very  beautifully 
at  the  bottom  of  your  pictures  ?  "  I  ask. 

"Yes!     Yes!" 

"  Don't  write  it  on  your  pictures,"  I  warn  them. 

I  put  the  word  on  the  blackboard  in  capitals  and 
small  print  characters.  They  run  out  to  have  a 
look  before  they  begin  to  write. 

"  I'm  going  to  do  every  letter  a  different  colour." 

"  I'm  going  to  do  mine  red  and  yellow  in  stripes, 
to  match  my  picture." 

"  I'm  going  to  do  mine  in  pencil ;  it's  easier." 

The  conversation  during  the  drawing  lesson  is 
of  the  greatest  assistance  to  the  younger  children, 
who  always  talk  about  what  they  are  doing.  With 
older  ones,  who  often  talk  of  other,  generally  trivial, 
things,  the  opposite  is  true. 


A  PAPER-CUTTING  "MAGIC' 

I  BROUGHT  some  newspapers  to  school  (penny  ones, 
without  distracting  large  print  or  pictures),  and  cut 
them  up  quickly  into  squares  with  a  penknife,  while 
the  children  watched  and  speculated.  I  had  also 
some  brown  packing-paper — fairly  smooth — in  which 
some  school  materials  had  been  sent.  I  cut  that 
also  into  convenient  pieces,  a  little  larger  than  the 
newspaper  squares. 

The  children  each  fetched  one  or  two  of  the 
latter  and  their  scissors  from  the  scissor -box. 

I  said,  "  Watch  me,  and  I'll  show  you  a  cutting- 
out  magic.  .  .  .  See,  I  am  folding  my  square  into 
two,  corner  on  corner." 

"  That  makes  a  three-corner,  like  our  baby's 
shawl,"  said  a  little  girl. 

"  And  then  I  fold  it  over  again — so."  I  waited 
until  the  children  had  got  as  far  with  their  own 
squares. 

"  Let  me  help  you,  Nelly,"  said  Jenny.  "  You've 
got  it  wrong.  Look,  that's  the  way." 

"  Then,"  I  said,  "  you  cut  it  straight  across  the 
little  folded  corner.  ...  so.  And  then  comes  the 
magic."  I  opened  out  my  square,  and  lo  and 
behold  there  was  a  little  square  in  the  middle. 

The  children  shrieked  with  delight. 

"  Now  I'm  going  to  do  it,"  they  all  cried. 
66 


A  PAPER-CUTTING  "  MAGIC  " 


67 


"  Oh  !  Oh !  Look,  a  little  square  in  the  middle  !  " 
Joyce  picked  up  the  bit  she  had  cut  out  and 
flattened  it  with  a  heavy  hand  upon  the  table. 


of     Folding- 


Tine 


MT»i«3. 


a 


o 


"  I've  found  another  square,"  she  remarked  with 
solemn  pleasure. 

All  the  others  found  theirs  too. 

"  Would  you  like  to  stick  them  both  on  a  piece 
of  brown  paper,"  I  inquired. 

"  Why,  how  nice  !  " 


68       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  Shall  we  come  and  get  some  ?  " 

"  Shall  I  get  out  the  paste  ;  here's  some  old  bits  of 
newspaper  to  stand  the  pots  on,"  said  Jenny. 

"  We'll  use  these  two  tables  for  pasting,"  said 
Dicky,  helping  to  arrange  things.  "  We  must  put 
some  newspaper  on  first." 

They  cut  out  the  two  other  patterns  sketched, 
and  compared  the  '  insets  '  with  the  spaces  they 
had  once  filled. 

Then  inventive  minds  suggested  other  forms,  and 
we  had  a  variety  such  as  anyone  may  discover 
who  has  a  few  squares  of  paper,  some  scissors,  and 
a  little  ingenuity.  Some  were  merely  curious, 
notched,  or  spotty,  some  were  quite  beautiful  with 
curved  outlines,  the  four-leaved  clover  and  the 
Maltese  cross  being  two  of  the  prettiest  and  simplest ; 
these  were  obtained  by  folding  the  paper  yet  again 
before  cutting.  Any  that  I  approved — and  of  course 
I  took  into  consideration  the  age  and  ability  of  the 
children  when  approving  or  condemning — were 
stuck  on  the  pieces  of  brown  paper,  and  either  kept 
at  school  or  taken  home.  Most  of  them  found  time 
to  colour  the  patterns  with  their  chalks,  adding 
thereby  to  their  beauty  and  interest. 


NUMBER-PLAYS 

I 

EVEEY  one  of  the  younger  children  has  a  little 
treasure-bag  (school-made,  of  course)  with  his  own 
marbles  and  shells  and  nuts  and  beads  in  it.  We 
collect  such  things  ;  also  pebbles  and  fir-cones  and 
sticks  and  conkers  and  walnut-shells,  and  we  store 
them  in  boxes  in  our  little  low  cupboards,  where 
the  little  people  can  easily  find  them. 

With  the  assistance  of  two  children,  one  to  put 
up  the  trestles  and  the  other  to  help  me  in  laying 
the  boards  on  them,  I  arrange  three  trestle  tables 
in  the  middle  of  the  room,  but  with  a  few  feet  of 
space  between  them.  I  then  clap  my  hands — the 
signal  for  attention. 

"  Guess  what  you're  going  to  do,"  say  I. 

"Drawing." 

"  We  should  want  all  the  tables,"  says  some  one. 

"  Bring  me  the  treasure-boxes,"  I  say. 

"  Are  we  going  to  count  ?  "  "  Do  let  us  write 
down  the  numbers." 

"  When  I  say  *  Be  off ! '  you  must  all  run  away 
to  the  wall  and  not  peep." 

"  Oh  !  Oh  !  "  "  I  wonder  what  for."  "  It's  a 
guessing -game. ' ' 

69 


70       SENSE-PLAYS  6  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  Be  off !  "   They  all  scamper  away  like  puppies. 

"  Now  when  I  say  '  Ready  ! '  you're  to  run  back 
and  count  something." 

I  put  out  six  sticks  in  a  row  on  each  table.  Then 
I  call,  "Ready!" 

(A  bundle  of  ordinary  firewood  will  provide  good 
material,  or  if  the  numbers  of  children  be  small  a 
box  of  safety  matches.) 

They  all  run  to  look,  and  begin  to  count  the 
sticks  at  once.  Then  they  rush  at  me.  I  am 
embraced  and  dragged  down  by  one  and  tiptoed 
to  by  another  until  they  have  all  informed  my  hot 
and  tingling  ear. 

"Six!"  "Five!"  "Nine!"  "Six!"  "Six!" 
"  Six  !  "  and  so  forth. 

"  Now  let's  count  again  slowly  to  make  sure,"  I 
say. 

So  they  all  count.     "  Six  is  right." 

"  I'm  right !  "  "  I'm  right !  "  chant  the  lucky  ones, 
dancing  with  delight. 

"  Of  course  you're  nearly  all  right.  It  was  easy, 
wasn't  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  dreadfully  easy  !  " 

"  You'll  have  to  be  more  careful  next  time,  I 
expect.  Now  I'm  going  to  have  Samuel  and 
Georgie  to  help  me." 

"  You  go  to  the  other  tables  and  put  out  what 
I  do,  then  let  the  children  whisper  to  you  as  soon 
as  they  know." 

"  Now  the  rest  of  you— Be  off  !  "  I  call. 

"  And  no  peeping,"  squeaks  Georgie. 

We  put  out  eight  sticks  in  two  squares. 

"  Oh  !  it's  easy  as  easy,"  cries  Dicky,  counting 


NUMBER-PLAYS  71 

with  his  first  finger,  and  framing  the  words  with  his 
mouth. 

"  I  can't  do  it,"  says  Pet  plaintively.  "  They'se 
making  too  much  noise." 

"  Your  hand's  in  my  way,"  I  hear  Julie  squealing. 

"  You'll  do  it  presently,"  I  say  encouragingly. 

Joyce  waddles  up  to  me  and  says  firmly,  "  Seven." 

"  Sh  !  "  I  say.     "  Count  again." 

She  stumps  back  with  an  unmoved  countenance. 

"  Eight,"  whispers  Dick,  with  his  hands  round  his 
mouth. 

I  nod  to  him  and  he  capers  round  the  room. 

"  Eight,"  whispers  Nelly,  pulling  me  down  to  her 
level. 

I  nod  again  and  she  capers  after  Dick,  squealing 
"  I'm  right  too." 

When  they  have  all  done  we  count  the  sticks 
slowly  aloud  to  make  sure. 

"  How  many  counted  right  at  your  table, 
Samuel  ?  " 

"  Oh,  lots." 

"  Who  was  first  ?  " 

"  I  was  !  "  calls  out  somebody,  "  I  was,  I  was  \  " 

"  Yes,  you  was,"  says  Samuel. 

"  Were,"  I  suggest  softly. 

"  How  many  of  your  people  counted  right, 
Georgie  ?  " 

"  I  dunno.  .  .  .     Two  or  thurree." 

"  I  did,  I  did !  "  eagerly  protest  about  two-thirds 
of  his  group. 

"  Who  was  first  ?  " 

"  I  think  him,"  says  Georgie,  aiming  a  stumpy, 
wavering  finger. 


72       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  No,  /  was.     Really  I  was." 

"  Georgie's  a  sleepy  boy,"  I  say,  holding  up 
his  face  to  me,  while  a  sheepish  smile  over- 
spreads it. 

Next  time,  having  packed  off  the  guessers  to  the 
walls  again,  we  arrange  seven  sticks  to  make  two 
adjoining  squares.  Many  people,  in  a  great  hurry, 
give  the  number  as  eight. 

After  that  I  put  seven  sticks  as  two  rows  of  five 
and  two.  That  is  counted  immediately  because 
we  always  formally  arrange  numbers  in  that  way 
in  order  to  agree  with  the  Roman  notation. 

Then  I  put  out  two  groups  of  five  and  two  more, 
and  that  is  fairly  quickly  counted. 

Last  of  all  I  throw  down  a  higgledy-piggledy 
group  of  twelve,  and  that  takes  quite  a  long  time  to 
count. 

"  Oh,  dear !  I  don't  know  where  I  began," 
says  Nelly. 

"  Your  hand's  in  my  way." 

"  You're  talking  too  loud.  One,  two,  three.  .  .  . 
No  !  One,  two,  three  ..."  shouts  Samuel. 

"  Julie  won't  let  me  count,"  wails  Georgie. 
"  She's  putting  her  hand  in  my  way." 

"  Oh,  dear  !  I've  got  to  begin  all  over  again," 
says  Dicky. 

"  One,  two  .  .  .  I'm  going  to  wait  a  minute," 
and  he  shuts  his  eyes  and  turns  his  back.  But  he 
cannot  hold  himself  in ;  the  next  moment  he  has 
returned  to  the  group  at  the  table,  and  is  counting 
with  all  his  might  and  main. 

Next    morning    after    one    or    two    preliminary 


NUMBER-PLAYS  73 

trials  we  divide  up  into  several  groups,  so  that  there 
are  only  a  few  children  in  each. 

Our  little  movable  trestle  tables  are  soon  stacked 
against  the  walls,  and  some  arranged  at  intervals 
round  the  room ;  we  can  thus  manage  without 
undue  noise  or  any  confusion. 

I  pass  from  one  group  to  another  (they  are  all 
playing  the  game),  watching  and,  when  there  is 
any  difficulty  the  children  seem  unable  to  settle 
for  themselves,  making  suggestions.  And  I  find 
it  very  delightful  to  watch  the  busy  excited  little 
companies,  the  active  counting  fingers,  the  moving 
lips,  the  serious  faces  of  the  children  in  charge,  and 
the  delighted  caperings  of  those  who  have  counted 
right. 

After  each  count  comes  the  minute  of  relaxation 
at  the  far  end  of  the  room  while  a  new  arrangement 
is  being  made.  The  waiting,  the  secrecy,  and  the 
running  to  and  fro  are  enjoyable  in  themselves. 

Many  other  arrangements  of  increasing  difficulty 
can  easily  be  devised.  The  grouping  of  the  Roman 
numerals  (and  of  the  Arabic  also)  will  suggest 
many  formal  ones,  and  so  will  the  geometrical 
figures. 

Repetition  of  a  group  of  sticks  or  stones,  arrange- 
ment in  twos,  threes,  fours,  &c.,  will  form  a  basis 
for  the  shortened  addition  known  as  multiplication ; 
and  for  this  purpose  stones,  shells,  nut-shells,  or 
conkers  will  do  as  well  as  or  better  than  sticks. 

Higgledy-piggledy  arrangements  and  arrange- 
ments in  a  circle  give  the  difficulty  of  remembering 
where  the  counting  began  and  must  leave  off. 


74       SENSE-PLAYS  &  NUMBER-PLAYS 


n 


Sometimes  we  just  count  the  things  in  the  room. 
The  number  of  children,  the  number  of  hands  (in 
twos),  the  number  of  tables,  the  number  of  trestles 
(two  to  a  table),  the  number  of  window-panes, 
beams  in  the  ceiling,  panels  in  the  cupboards, 
fingers  spread  out  at  one  table  (four  children  with 
ten  fingers  each,  or  two  thumbs  and  eight  fingers), 
number  of  yellow  leaves  on  the  six  crocuses  in  the 
bowl,  on  the  eight  primroses  on  one  plant,  and  so 
forth. 


NUMBER-PLAYS  75 

M 


Ill  II 

o  n 
cci 

inn 
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inn  mil     v 

"    A 

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76       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 
Mom  ber    PlayS 

/(/IN////  y|. 

inn  inn     *  **"" 


=  xv/// 

Hill  /// 


IJ  U  U  U  LJ 


NUMBER-PLAYS 


77 


II 


and     Crosses 


O 


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has    scoivd 


78       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 


Hickory      D»ckory     Tiock 


P 


NUMBER-PLAYS  79 


HI 


THE  LITTLE  ONES  PLAY  NUMBER-GAMES 
WITH  THEMSELVES 

ONE  fine  day  I  said,  "  Let's  have  some  counting  in 
the  playground. " 

"  Yes,  let's  !  " 

"  Run  along  out  then." 

The  first  child  to  get  to  the  glass  door  opened  it, 
and  they  all  ran  out  on  the  grass.  It  was  lovely 
overhead  but  somewhat  moist  underfoot,  so  we 
could  not  sit  down. 

"Now  I'm  going  to  tell  you  to  make  one  long 
line,  and  I  shall  be  very  cross  if  you're  not  quick." 

My  severity  was  received  with  much  laughter. 

"  Now  listen,  little  ones,"  I  said,  with  great 
emphasis.  "  I  want  the  biggest  child  at  this  end 
and  littlest  child  at  that  end  [pointing]  and  all  the 
others  in  between  like  steps.  .  .  .  Now  begin  !  " 

Such  a  scramble  as  it  is  difficult  to  imagine,  such 
a  chatter  as  frightened  all  the  sparrows  away 
and  caused  the  school  cat  to  jump  from  his  warm 
window-sill  and  flee  for  his  life.  It  was  like  the 
clattering  of  homing  rooks. 

"  Pm  tallest !  "     "  I'm  tallest  \  " 

"No,  no;  it's  me/" 

"  Me  !  "     "  Me  !  " 

"  I  'spect  I'm  littlest,"  said  Nelly,  skipping  up 
and  down.  She  was  not  much  elated  ;  it  was  an 
inferior  distinction.  "I'll  run  right  to  the  other 


80       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

end."  She  stood  there  squeezing  and  clapping 
her  hands,  bright-eyed,  watching  the  struggle  of 
the  others. 

The  middle  ones  squeezed  themselves  into  a 
bunch  and  fought  out  of  it  again,  and  argued  and 
struggled  to  convince  one  another  of  their  superiority 
in  height. 

"  Move  down,  move  down  !  "  cried  Dicky,  holding 
his  head  bravely  up  in  the  very  middle  of  the  press. 
"  Move  down,  Nelly." 

"  Move,  move  up,  Julie  !  We  shall  never  have 
room,"  cried  Samuel,  near  the  top. 

Joyce  stood  outside  and  watched  the  contest. 
When  the  line  straightened  itself  she  planted  herself 
in  front  of  Samuel. 

'  You  can't  stand  there,  Joyce,"  he  protested. 

"  Make  room  then ;  I  b'long  here,"  she  replied 
stolidly. 

So  Samuel  edged  away  and  squeezed  a  place  for 
the  obstinate  little  damsel. 

"  Oh  !     You're  hitting  me,"  snarled  Pet. 

"  No,  I  never,"  some  one  answered. 

"  I  think  you're  a  very  rude  boy,"  she  said 
more  quietly. 

Georgie  in  the  thickest  of  the  scrum  threw  his 
head  back  and  stood  firm  with  tightened  lips.  As 
the  crush  lessened  he  sighed,  "Ah,  that  was  fine  !  " 

The  line  was  fairly  straight  at  last,  after  nearly 
ten  minutes  serious  labour  and  competition. 

"  Now  we're  ready." 

"  Not  quite.     He's  wrong  !  " 

"  He's  too  far  up." 

"  Sam's  wrong." 


NUMBER-PLAYS  81 

I  wanted  to  see  what  Joyce  would  do.  So  I 
said,  "  Joyce,  you  shall  be  judge." 

"  Both  begin  with  '  J,'  "  said  some  one  irrele- 
vantly. 

Joyce  walked  solemnly  down  the  tiptoeing  and 
swaying  line.  She  pulled  out  Samuel  by  the  arm. 
The  boy  reluctantly  came.  She  silently  towed  him 
three  or  four  places  down  and  stuck  him  in  a  more 
suitable  position. 

"  Make  room,"  she  said  shortly,  and  Samuel 
shook  himself  a  little  as  she  let  him  go. 

"Thank  you,  Joyce,"  I  said.  "Now  Nelly 
shall  be  judge — she  is  the  smallest." 

Nelly  skipped  out,  her  eyes  shining. 

"  I  think  those  two  are  wrong,"  she  said. 

"  Tell  them  to  come  out,"  I  whispered,  "  and 
stand  back  to  back." 

"  You're  to  come  out  and  stand  back  to  back," 
she  commanded. 

They  did  so. 

"  Oh  yes,  they  were  wrong,"  said  everybody. 

She  made  several  corrections  in  the  same  way, 
and  the  gradations  were  by  that  time  fairly  regular, 
but  the  straight  line  was  trying  to  turn  itself  into  a 
broken  circle. 

"  Tell  them  to  make  their  line  straight,"  I 
whispered. 

'  You're  to  make  your  line  straight,"  she  pro- 
claimed, and  they  did  so. 

"  Now  run  back  to  your  place,"  I  said. 

"  What  a  beautiful  line !  You'd  better  march 
past.  I'll  be  the  King  and  look  at  all  my  fine  soldiers 
to  see  if  they  know  how  to  march.  Dicky  shall  be 


82       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 


my  officer,  and  count  them  all  for  me.  All  the 
soldiers  must  remember  to  salute  me  or  I  shall  put 
them  in  prison." 

The  long  file  strutted  round  the  garden.  I  saw 
by  the  look  in  Joyce's  eye  that  she  was  going  to  be 
put  in  prison.  She  turned  her  head  away  and  did 
not  salute.  Two  soldiers  marched  her  off  to  a 
corner  of  the  garden,  where  she  remained  covered 
with  glory,  and  Dicky  said  : 

"  Now,    you've   got   not   so    many   soldiers   by 


IV 

The  next  morning  was  wet,  so  we  divided  into 
groups  in  the  schoolroom,  and  marked  the  heights 
of  all  the  children  with  their  initials  on  the  prepared 
wall  surface.  For  this  occasion  I  borrowed  sticks 
cut  by  another  class.  They  were  round  hazel- 
sticks  a  foot  in  length  and  divided  by  grooves 
round  them  into  quarters  of  a  foot. 

I  put  Samuel  and  Dicky  in  charge  of  two  other 
groups,  each  armed  with  a  light  drawing-board, 
which  they  held  horizontally  on  the  head  of  the 
measured  child  so  that  its  edge  touched  the  wall 
and  gave  the  height  by  its  under  surface. 

The  height  marked  by  a  piece  of  chalk  the 
child  himself  measured  from  the  floor  upward 
with  a  foot  stick  under  the  criticism  of  the  onlookers. 
The  heights  we're  thus  obtained  to  the  nearest 
quarter  foot ;  nearer  would  have  been  nonsensical 
because  of  the  inaccuracy  of  the  measurers. 

The  children  stood  in  their  bare  feet,  for  it  was 


NUMBER-PLAYS  83 

early  summer  and  sandals  were  the  rule — sandals 
and  brown  bare  legs.  Every  one  had  to  contrive 
to  fasten  and  unfasten  his  own  buckles. 


Another  fine  day  we  had  the  line-play  again  in 
the  garden,  and  it  did  not  take  so  long  the  second 
time. 

After  that  the  children  arranged  themselves  in 
double  files,  then  three  abreast  and  four  abreast, 
marching  round  afterwards  in  great  style  in  each 
formation. 


84       SENSE-PLAYS  &  NUMBER-PLAYS 

VI 

DOMINOES 


I  buy  some  penny  boxes  of  dominoes,  and  we 
arrange  our  little  tables  all  about  the  room  and  play 
in  groups  of  three. 

Dicky,  Julie,  and  Joyce  are  at  one  table.  Dicky 
runs  to  fetch  the  box  and  deals  round  the  dominoes. 

"  Put  them  upside  down,"  says  Julie. 

"  I  am,"  says  Dicky.  "  Only  sometimes  they 
topple  wrong  way  up." 

"  One  for  you,  one  for  you,  one  for  you  !  .  .  . 

"  Two  for  you,  two  for  you,  two  for  you  !  .  .  . 

"  Three  for  you  ..."     He  chants  as  he  deals. 

"  Now  then,  ready  !  "  he  cries,  and  shuffles  back 
into  his  little  chair,  spreading  his  hands  over  his 
own  pile. 

"  Who  begins  ?  " 

"  I'll  begin,"  says  Julie. 

"  Werry  well,"  says  the  good-tempered  Dicky. 

Julie  lays  down  her  first  domino — a  blank  and  a 
six. 

It  is  Joyce's  turn. 

"  Put  down  a  six  or  a  white  to  join  on,  Joyce," 
cries  Dicky  excitedly. 

Joyce  stolidly  turns  over  her  things. 

"  There's  one  ;  there's  one.  I  thought  I  saw  one  !  " 
says  Dick. 

"  Must  there  be  two  sixes  or  two  whites  ?  "  says 
Joyce,  with  aggravating  calm. 


NUMBER-PLAYS  85 

"  No  ;  but  you  can  if  you  like,"  cries  Dick. 

Joyce  planks  down  a  double-six.  Julie  begins 
to  match  it  against  the  other  six,  but  Joyce  slaps 
her  hand  and  insists  on  doing  it  deliberately 
herself. 

"  Have  you  got  a  white  one  too  ?  "  says  Dicky,  a 
little  sadly.  He  wishes  Joyce  would  be  a  little 
jollier. 

Joyce  nods  and  deliberately  puts  it  out — a  white 
and  a  five,  while  Julie  is  dancing  with  impatience. 

"  Oh,  dear  !  I'm  sure  you'll  win  and  I  shall  be 
last,"  cries  Dicky. 

Julie  begins  to  play  again,  but  Dicky  reaches  out 
both  hands  to  restrain  her.  "  Oh,  Julie,  it's  my 
turn,"  he  pleads,  and  Julie  collects  her  scattered 
dominoes  to  cover  her  mistake.  She  is  always 
conscious  of  an  imaginary  audience. 

"  Oh,  oh  !  I  can  match  one,"  cries  Dicky.  "  I've 
only  got  one  to  match.  No,  no  ;  I've  got  another." 
He  puts  them  down  with  eager  fingers,  jumps  up, 
clasps  the  back  of  his  chair,  and  does  a  little  caper 
before  he  sits  down  again. 

Julie  is  ready  and  matches  one  domino  against 
Dicky's.  Then  it  is  Joyce's  turn. 

"  I  wish  you  were  not  so  slow,  Joyce,"  said  Julie 
severely. 

Joyce  is  aggravatingly  silent  and  proceeds  to 
take  longer  than  ever.  I  come  up. 

"  Are  you  tired,  Joyce  ?  "  I  inquire  jovially. 
"  Would  you  like  to  lie  down  ?  " 

She  shakes  her  head  and  hurriedly  plays  her 
turn,  the  other  two  watching  with  relief.  She  is 
really  enjoying  the  game,  but  seems  to  fancy  that 


86       SENSE-PLAYS  &  NUMBER-PLAYS 

her  role  is  to  appear  preoccupied  and  indifferent 
to  what  excites  enthusiasm  in  the  others. 

"  I  can  match  two,  I  can  match  two  !  "  cries 
Dicky.  "  P'raps  I'm  going  to  win." 

"  I  can  only  match  one,"  says  Julie. 

Presently  a  shout  announces  the  end  of  the  game, 
and  the  other  children  turn  their  heads  to  see. 

"  I've  won,  I've  won,  I've  won !  "  says  Julie, 
running  up  to  me. 

"  How  lucky.     Put  it  down  on  your  score." 

She  runs  back  to  her  place. 

We  play  the  game  for  half  an  hour  or  so,  and  then 
add  up  the  totals.  Several  children  stand  at  the 
head  of  the  scores  as  winners,  and  we  give  them  all 
a  clap. 


VII 

Simple  numerical  games  with  ordinary  playing- 
cards  or  the  penny  packets  of  Tom  Thumb  playing- 
cards  can  be  played  by  the  older  children  when  a 
recreative  change  is  needed,  as,  for  example,  on  a 
Friday  morning.  They  are  an  aid  to  the  visualiza- 
tion of  number  groups.  Such  a  one  as  "  Sevens  " 
is  quite  suitable,  where  one  child  leads  off  with  a 
seven.  The  numbers  six  and  eight  of  the  same 
kind  must  follow,  and  a  child  may  play  either  or 
both  when  his  turn  comes,  and  if  he  had  them, 
five  and  nine  of  the  same  kind  as  well ;  or  he  may 
always  play  another  seven  to  start  another  suite. 
The  winner  is  the  child  who  first  gets  rid  of  all 
his  cards. 


NUMBER-PLAYS  87 


VIII 

I  will  describe  a  few  other  number-games,  some  of 
ancient  origin,  which  are  always  played  with  great 
zest.  They  can  all  be  played  by  groups  of  children 
sitting  round  separate  desks  or  tables,  or  better  still 
in  groups  on  the  floor.  The  little  ones  will  soon 
learn  to  rely  on  themselves  to  keep  the  rules. 

Nine  Meris  Morris  is  an  ancient  Greek  game 
played  with  the  square  arrangement  shown  in  the 
illustration,  and  twenty-four  black  and  twenty- 
four  white  stones.  The  square  may  be  drawn  on 
a  large  sheet  of  paper  or  on  cardboard.  An  older 
class  should  get  them  ready  for  the  little  ones  as 
an  exercise  in  geometrical  construction.  The  outside 
square  should  be  about  one  foot  across. 

The  game  is  played  by  two  children  (two  others 
can  watch  and  take  turns).  The  stones  are  placed 
on  the  points  where  the  lines  cross,  and  the  object 
is  to  complete  a  line  of  three  of  one's  own  colour. 
Each  time  this  is  done  the  successful  child  writes 
down  '  1  '  on  his  score.  The  game  might  seem 
altogether  too  simple  to  an  adult,  but  young 
children  find  it  quite  difficult  to  circumvent  their 
opponents. 

Any  contrasting  objects  may  take  the  place  of 
black  and  white  stones,  e.g.,  stones  and  conkers, 
sea-shells  and  walnut-shells,  discs  of  brown  and 
white  paper,  or  squares  and  discs  cut  out  of 
paper. 


88       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

Noughts  and  Crosses  is  a  similar  game  played 
by  two.  It  is  simpler  and  does  not  provide  so  much 
scope.  It  may  be  a  corruption  of  the  Nine  Men's 
Morris.  It  is  very  familiar.  The  object  is  to  get 
three  O's  or  three  X's  in  a  row. 

Hickory  Dickory  Dock  is  played  in  different  ways. 
We  have  played  it  thus  : 

With  a  small  plate  and  a  blue  or  red  crayon  the 
children  draw  a  round  on  a  piece  of  paper,  cut  it 
out,  and  then  carefully  arrange  the  clock-figures 
round  it. 

When  the  face  is  thus  finished  two  or  more  children 
take  it  in  turns  to  close  their  eyes  and  dotting  with 
a  pencil  say  : 

Hickory  Dickory  Dock, 
The  mouse  ran  up  the  clock, 
Clock  struck  one,  Down  he  came, 
Hickory  Dickory  Dock. 

On  "  Dock  "  the  pencil  is  kept  still,  and  the  child 
opens  his  eyes  to  see  what  number  he  has  hit. 
If  a  number  he  writes  it  on  his  score,  if  not  he  writes 
down  nothing.  Four  children  can  easily  play  at 
this,  and  they  must  prevent  each  other  from 
peeping  and  mistakes  in  the  scores,  for  eagerness 
may  overcome  honesty.  At  the  end  of  a  certain 
time  the  scores  are  added  up. 

Tit-Tat-Toe  is  similar  to  the  last,  but  the  figures 
are  arranged  irregularly  and  in  compartments, 
so  that  a  hit  anywhere  in  the  round  counts  for 
something.  Here  again  the  children  make  their 


NUMBER-PLAYS  89 

own  drawings  for  the  game  ;  score  is  kept  in  the 
same  way,  and  with  the  same  precautions.  The 
ring  should  be  about  six  inches  across.  A  larger 
number  may  be  used  with  older  children,  say 
twenty  in  the  middle  and  nineteen  compartments 
outside. 

While  the  eyes  are  closed  the  following  rhyme  is 
said  : 

Tit-tat-toe, 

My  first  go, 

Three  jolly  butcher-boys  all  in  a  row, 

Stick  one  up,  stick  one  down, 

Stick  one  on  the  old  man's  crown.1 

Skittles.  Home-made  skittles  may  be  contrived 
out  of  thick  hazel-sticks  or  small  fir  logs  by  the  wood- 
work class.  The  bottoms  are  sawed  off  flat  and 
smoothed  down  with  sand-paper,  the  tops  are  shaved 
off  into  a  dome  by  means  of  a  good  knife,  and  then 
with  Indian  ink  and  water-colour  paint  quaint  faces 
and  costumes  are  drawn  upon  them.  They  are 
then  presented  to  the  younger  children,  the  more 
sets  the  better. 

The  game  is  of  course  to  fix  up  the  skittles  at 
equal  distances  apart  in  any  orderly  arrangement 
the  children  may  fancy,  and  then,  standing  behind 
a  line  drawn  on  the  floor,  to  aim  a  ball  at  them, 
knocking  down  as  many  as  possible. 

Score  is  kept  by  one  child  on  a  small  board  or  large 
sheet  of  paper.  A  large  class  would  of  course  be 
divided  into  groups.  Each  child  has  to  add  up  his 
own  score  correctly,  and  number  is  thus  a  very 
important  part  of  the  game. 

1  i.e.  the  centre  of  the  ring,  where  the  highest  number  is. 


90       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

Nine  O's.  Nine  O's  involves  number  only  in  the 
scoring,  but  it  makes  children  very  observant  of 
space  and  distance. 

Two  children  play  at  a  time  ;  one  has  a  blue  and 
the  other  a  red  crayon. 

One  draws  nine  O's  in  a  square  ;  the  O's  are  at 
least  three  inches  apart.  Then  the  game  begins. 
Julie's  object  is  to  try  and  prevent  Dicky  from 
joining  all  his  O's. 

She  joins  the  two  corner  ones  with  her  blue 
line.  (Dotted  line  1.) 

Dicky  joins  the  first  and  the  one  below  it  with 
his  red  line.  (Black  line  1.)  Every  0  is  joined 
up  by  two  lines  and  then  it  is  done  with.  The  lines 
may  not  cross  or  touch  each  other.1 

Julie  joins  that  one  with  the  corner  one. 
(H ) 

"  Oh,  dear  !  "  cries  Dicky,  "  you've  done  for  me 
now.  You've  made  two  of  the  poor  O's  prisoners. 
How  can  I  get  at  them  ?  "  He  sits  and  puzzles  over 
it.  "  Oh  !  I  see.  It's  aU  right  after  all.  I  can 
join  them  together  by  themselves."  He  draws 
aline.  (II .) 

Julie  changes  her  sphere  of  action  and  joins  up 

two  outside  ones.  (Ill )  "  Why  I  nearly 

joined  that  bottom  one  in  the  corner  three  times. 
I  was  just  going  to,"  she  says. 

Dicky's  concentration  increases.  He  draws  his 
third  line  in  silence.  ( III . ) 

With  a  sudden  inspiration  Julie  draws  her  fourth 
line.  (IV ) 

Dicky  looks  very  puzzled,  thinks  that  he  is  sold, 

1  There  are  only  two  dimensions.     The  O's  are  diiaknt  ! 


NUMBER-PLAYS  91 

but  quietly  draws  his  fourth  line  (IV )  in  a 

gentle  despair. 

It  is  then  Julie's  turn.  She  searches  about  the 
paper.  Behold  there  is  one  unjoined  0,  and  it  is 
her  turn  to  draw.  She  has  beaten  herself.  She 
bites  her  lip  in  disgust. 

The  situation  slowly  dawns  upon  Dicky. 

"  I've  won,  I've  won,  I've  won ! "  he  shouts  at 
last,  scarcely  able  to  contain  himself. 


WEIGHING  AND  MEASURING 

THE  kitchen  scales  and  the  larger  weights  gave  us 
material  for  much  work  and  play.  The  younger 
children  did  not  of  course  use  these  appliances, 
but  had  a  see-saw  and  balanced  their  weight-stones 
on  it.  The  see-saw  was  made  by  the  woodwork 
class  and  consisted  of  a  long  (but  thick  and  firm) 
plank,  with  a  wooden  edge  set  in  a  block  on  which 
it  swung.  The  game  always  began  by  balancing 
the  beam  accurately,  and  when  that  was  done 
objects  and  weight-stones  were  counterbalanced  at 
either  end.  The  weight-stones  were  rounded  flints 
approximately  doubling  in  size.  A  pound  stone, 
a  two-pound  stone,  and  a  four-pound  stone  they 
were  called.  The  pound  standard  was  first  selected, 
and  others  found  to  counterbalance  it  accurately, 
the  two-pound  stone  to  counterbalance  two  of  the 
pound  stones,  and  the  four-pound  stone  to  counter- 
balance two  of  the  two-pound  stones.  Then  the 
weights  of  fresh  stones  were  guessed  and  proved  by 
balancing,  and  a  similar  guessing  game  was  played 
with  any  objects  in  the  schoolroom. 

The  older  children  were  ready  to  use  kitchen 
balances  and  guessed  the  weights  of  all  kinds  of 
objects  :  bags  of  stones,  conkers,  fir-cones,  books, 
blocks  of  wood,  coal,  coke,  fire-irons,  potatoes, 
turnips.  &c.,  and  materials  used  for  the  pancakes 


WEIGHING  AND  MEASURING  93 

and  Christmas  pudding,  the  weights  being  after- 
ward tested  by  the  scales.  The  games  were  orga- 
nized in  exactly  the  same  way  as  the  tasting -games, 
the  children  dividing  into  groups  with  weigher  and 
scorer. 

With  cheap  and  abundant  water  and  a  varied 
collection  of  jam-pots  used  for  paint- water,  and 
with  a  pint  and  half-pint  measure  the  children 
played  guessing -games  as  to  the  capacity  of  the 
various  vessels. 

Both  these  plays  occasionally  gave  place  to  a 
game  of  shops  where  the  commodities  were  priced 
and  sold  by  weight  or  by  measure. 

For  a  few  days  they  insisted  that  they  were 
in  Africa,  and  had  to  buy  their  paint-water  by 
the  gill  from  a  water-carrier.  Shells  or  beads  or 
conkers  make  very  good  primitive  money,  or 
cardboard  coins  may  be  used. 


ANOTHER  WEIGHING 

OUT  of  the  stick-box  and  out  of  the  stone-box  we 
got  sticks  and  stones  of  very  nearly  the  same  sizes 
and  some  one  brought  some  bits  of  thick  lead  pipe 
and  some  one  an  old  iron  weight  with  no  name  on  it, 
and  another  a  small  iron  round  from  a  cooking-stove 
(probably  surreptitiously). 

When  the  things  were  collected  we  found  we  had 
some  pieces  of  deal,  a  piece  of  oak,  a  flint,  and  a  bit 
of  marble,  the  lead  and  the  iron.  The  lead  pipe 
must  be  hammered  flat,  the  children  said,  "  because 
it  looks  bigger  than  it  really  is."  They  handled 
the  things  and  then,  at  another  table,  handled  the 
weights,  and  at  length  declared  they  were  ready  to 
begin. 

The  guessers  we  chose  first  were  some  who  had 
won  in  a  previous  game.  Those  we  chose  second 
were  the  worst  ones  in  order  to  make  sure  that 
they  had  some  practice.  They  lifted  the  various 
objects  in  turn  and  guessed  their  weights  while 
the  remaining  children  looked  on.  Their  guesses 
were  afterward  tested  by  the  scales. 

Then  we  divided  into  groups  and  borrowed 
three  pairs  of  scales,  and  there  was  room  for  every 
one  to  play. 

Each  group  chose  a  scorer  and  an  umpire,  the  one 
to  keep  count  and  the  other  to  control  the  pro- 

94 


ANOTHER  WEIGHING  95 

ceedings,  but  they  took  turns  at  guessing  ;  they  did 
not  want  to  miss  anything.  There  is  danger  in 
letting  each  child  keep  his  own  score  unchecked. 
With  the  best  intentions  a  child  may  allow  his 
ambitions  to  overcome  his  sense  of  honesty  and 
fairness,  and  a  bad  habit  of  dissembling  may  be 
formed. 

A  discussion  followed  the  weight-guessing. 

Henry  said,  "  Deal  is  the  lightest  thing  we've 
got  here." 

"  And  lead  is  the  heaviest,"  said  Meg. 

"  Well,  it's  just  a  bit  heavier  than  iron,  but  not 
much,"  remarked  Christopher,  wagging  his  head. 

"  Well,  I  said  it  was  heavier,"  argued  Meg. 

"  And  oak's  heavier  than  deal." 

"  We've  got  an  oak  box  at  home  that's  awfully 
heavy,"  said  Patty.  "  /  can't  move  it." 

"  I  nearly  did,"  said  Jack. 

"  You  didn't,"  said  Patty. 

"  Here's  something  I've  forgot,"  said  Willy, 
dragging  from  his  pocket  a  fisherman's  cork  float. 

"  Oh,  bother  !  We  ought  to  have  three  of  them," 
said  Christopher. 

"  I  believe  they've  got  some  in  the  other  room  ; 
the  babies  were  using  them  for  rafts,"  I  said. 
"  Run  and  ask  very  quietly,  Christopher.  Knock 
at  the  door,  and  don't  interrupt  if  they're  in  the 
middle  of  a  story,  just  wait,"  I  added,  holding  him 
by  the  sleeve  till  he  heard  me. 

He  returned  triumphant  and  handed  them  out 
to  the  three  umpires,  and  in  a  moment  we  were  at 
the  game  again. 

"  Our  lot's  done,"  announced  Meg  first. 


96       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  Cork's  the  lightest  of  all.     Quite  the  lightest." 

"  Ours  isn't  finished.     Do  be  quiet,"  said  Jack. 

"  We'll  wait  for  every  one,"  I  said.  "  Have  you 
added  up  your  scores  yet  ?  " 

"  Well,  do  it  then,  and  I'll  write  them  in  my 
book." 

"  Cork's  the  lightest,"  whisper  the  irrepressible 
first  set. 

"  Ssh  !  They  do  worry  us,"  complained  the 
others. 

"  Some  folks'll  have  to  go  outside  in  a  minute,"  I 
suggested. 

"  We've  done  now,"  announced  the  slowest  set. 

"  Let  me  see  ;  how  did  you  keep  your  scores 
to-day  ?  "  said  I. 

"  We  all  had  strips  of  paper,  and  Christopher  had 
two,"  said  Meg.  "  He  was  scorer.  Everybody 
weighed  with  their  hand,  and  wrote  down  their 
guess." 

"  Did  they  read  it  out  ?  "  This  is  a  precaution 
against  altering. 

"  Yes  ;  when  everybody 'd  guessed,  we  all  read  it 
out.  And  then  I  weighed  on  the  scales." 

"  Were  you  umpire  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  then  the  one  who  was  nearest  had  a 
tick  on  Christopher's  paper.  That's  how  we  did 
every  time." 

WTiile  the  scores  were  being  added  some  of  the 
unoccupied  children  helped,  some  looked  out  of  the 
window,  some  continued  to  handle  and  heave  the 
weights  and  the  materials  they  had  been  using. 

"  Oh  !  do  let's  have  the  bath  from  the  little  ones' 
room  and  let  the  corks  float,"  cried  Christopher. 


ANOTHER  WEIGHING  97 

"  Well,  you  might,"  I  said.  It  is  a  shallow  sponge- 
bath,  in  which  they  sometimes  have  sand  and  water 
and  sail  their  little  boats.  "  I  shall  have  to  fetch 
it,  I  suppose,"  I  said  with  an  affectation  of  fatigue. 

"  Oh  no  !  Two  of  us  could,"  Christopher 
volunteered  with  great  eagerness. 

"  And  scrape  all  the  walls  and  doors  ?  " 

"  No,  no  !  " 

"  Are  you  quite  sure  ?  " 

"  Yes,  yes  !  "  Christopher  elbowed  through  the 
children  and  made  for  the  door. 

"  Choose  two  strong  and  careful  people  to  help 

you." 

"  Henry  and  Eric,"  he  said  without  hesitation, 
though  he  is  not  very  friendly  with  them. 

Henry  and  Eric  were  departing  with  a  preoccupied 
air. 

"  One  of  you  must  undertake  to  open  the  doors," 
I  called  after  them. 

Soon  we  heard  a  mysterious  scuffling  noise  in  the 
passage. 

"  It's  like  what  Alice  heard  when  the  lizard  came 
down  the  chimney,"  said  Mary,  who  was  standing 
near  me. 

Next  there  was  a  sound  of  voices  arguing. 

"  That's  just  like  it,  too,"  laughed  Meg. 

The  door  was  flung  open  with  a  flourish  by 
Christopher,  while  the  other  two  supported  the 
shallow  bath  and  trundled  it  gently  along. 

'*  Perhaps  Mary  will  get  some  water,"  I  suggested, 
in  order  to  encourage  her. 

"  Where's  the  can  ?  "  she  asked.  She  really  knew, 
but  was  diffident. 


98       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  In  the  shed,"  cried  Meg.  "  I  know,  I  know ! 
Let  me  show  you,  Mary.  Come  along  !  " 

"You're  to  get  the  water,  Mary,"  I  said. 

They  brought  back  the  can  between  them,  hang- 
ing their  free  arms  well  away  from  their  bodies  to 
balance  the  weight  on  the  others.  Mary  poured  out 
the  water  in  a  silence  which  permitted  its  splash 
to  be  heard  distinctly. 

Certain  foreseeing  people  had  quietly  possessed 
themselves  of  the  things,  and  were  holding  them 
ready.  The  others  bethought  themselves  of  them 
at  this  moment  and  were  disappointed. 

"  How  beautifully  the  cork  floats." 

"  It's  hardly  in  the  water  at  all." 

"  It's  right  on  the  water,  not  in  the  water." 

"  That's  why  they  use  it  for  life-belts." 

"  Those  at  the  baths  are  made  of  canvas,"  said 
Patty. 

Everybody  laughed. 

"  But  cork  underneath — clever  !  "  said  Chris- 
topher. 

"  Then  why  do  they  use  it  for  bottles  ?  " 

"  Because  it's  so  light  to  hold,  I  'spect." 

"  Oh,  I  know  !  It's  not  that ;  it's  because  it 
won't  let  the  water  out." 

"  And  because  it'll  squeeze  in." 

"  This  cork's  all  hard,"  remarked  Jack  thought- 
fully. 

"  It's  been  in  the  sea,  on  a  fisherman's  net,"  I 
said. 

"  Oh  !  " 

"  What  for  ?  " 

"  Oh  !      I  seen  them  when  I  was  by  the  sea,  all 


ANOTHER  WEIGHING  99 

along  the  sides  of  the  net.  And  they  bob  up  and 
down  on  the  water,"  cried  Meg.  "  The  net's  under 
the  sea,"  she  added  more  softly,  a  questioning  look 
on  her  face. 

"  Do  the  fish  try  to  bite  them  ?  "  asked  Mary. 

"  No,  of  course  not,"  laughed  Christopher. 

"  Well,  what  then  ?  "  ejaculated  Meg,  and 
Christopher  turned  away  with  a  sheepish  expression. 

"  I  should  say  they  were  to  keep  the  net  up,  so 
that  it  wouldn't  get  lost,"  said  Meg  slowly  and 
thoughtfully. 

"  Oh — ah  !  "  sighed  the  rest  with  satisfaction. 

"  Now  let's  try  the  woods,"  said  Patty. 

"I  thought  she  meant  places  full  of  trees," 
laughed  Willy. 

The  others  ignored  this  fatuity. 

"  Don't  splash.  Put  them  in  gently  so  that  the 
water  doesn't  wet  them,"  said  Meg,  spreading  out 
her  empty  hands  in  a  warning  gesture. 

The  bits  of  oak  and  deal  were  quickly  laid  on  the 
water. 

"  Why,  the  oak's  going  to  sink." 

"  No,  it  isn't !  " 

"  Well !  I  shouldn't  like  to  sit  on  an  oak  raft. 
I  should  get  wet  every  time  a  wave  came  along." 

"  It's  nearly  under  the  water." 

"  The  deal's  all  right." 

"  Hooray  for  the  deal !  " 

"  Which  wood  do  they  make  boats  of  ?  " 

"  They  make  the  keel  of  a  hard  heavy  wood " 

"  Like  oak  !  " 

"  And  the  sides  of  a  lighter  wood  that  will  bend," 
I  said. 


100       SENSE-PLAYS  6-  NUMBER-PLAYS 

"  Like  deal !  I  shall  look  very  particularly  at 
the  next  boat  I  see,"  said  Henry. 

"  That  won't  be  till  the  holidays,"  said  Eric. 

"  P'raps  not." 

"  A  boat  of  all  oak  would  sink,"  said  Jack. 

"  Battleships  are  made  of  iron,"  contradicted 
Henry. 

"  What  rot !  "  cried  Christopher.     "  Let's  try  the 


iron." 


"  It's  drowned  at  once,"  sighed  Willy.  He  rather 
fancied  an  iron  ship. 

"  Well  then,  who  says  ships  are  made  of  iron  ?  " 
jeered  Christopher. 

"  Let's  try  the  lead." 

"  What  a  splash  !  " 

"  That  was  stupid,"  I  said.  "  We're  not  dressed 
for  a  shower-bath." 

"And  the  stones." 

"  They  all  sink,  of  course.  How  dull,"  said 
Christopher. 

"I  want  a  tin  lid  from  the  cupboard,"  said  I, 
"  and  one  of  the  tin  plates." 

Mary  fetched  the  one  and  Christopher  the 
other. 

"  This  lid  and  this  plate  is  really  made  of  thin 
iron  ;  look,  it's  rusting  along  the  edge,"  I  said. 
"  Do  you  see,  children  !  "  I  handed  it  round.  "  It's 
just  turned  over." 

"  Oh  !  "  they  murmured  with  attentive  eyes  fixed 
on  the  objects. 

"  Look,  it  sinks  in  the  water,"  I  said,  dropping  it 
in  sideways,  and  waiting  to  be  contradicted. 

"  Let   me  have  it,"  said  Meg,  reaching  for  it. 


ANOTHER  WEIGHING  101 

But  Jack  got  it  first,  and  she  gave  it  up  to  him, 
according  to  our  rule. 

"  Look  !  "  said  Jack,  but  he  clumsily  dropped  it 
in  again. 

Meg  got  it  this  time  and  held  it  with  careful, 
graceful  finger-tips.  "  Look  !  "  she  said,  and  floated 
it  triumphantly  on  the  water.  "  I  'spect  it's  because 
it's  thin,  and  it's  hollow  like  a  boat." 

I  let  them  fetch  a  cup  and  saucer  and  a  small 
bottle  and  they  found  that  they  all  floated  empty 
and  sank  when  full  because  the  glass  and  china  were 
heavy.  This  very  interesting  play  was  leading 
them  on  by  sure  degrees  to  the  conceptions  of 
relative  weight  and  flotation. 

Our  lesson  ended  in  a  play  with  a  fleet  of  oddly 
consorted  boats.  Corks,  flat  bits  of  wood,  tin  lids, 
paper  boats,  and  walnut-shells. 

"  It  makes  me  think  of  the  bits  you  get  round 
your  feet  when  you  paddle  in  the  sea  after  a  storm," 
said  Meg. 

"  Let's  drop  the  iron  and  lead  on  them  so  that  they 
sink  !  "  cried  Jimmy,  always  more  interested  in 
pranks  than  reasoning. 

"  Yes,  but  no  wet  clothes,"  I  said  cheerfully, 
but  very  firmly.  "  Anyone  who  makes  a  big  splash 
will  certainly  have  to  clear  out  of  this  !  " 

"  And  we  shall  never  play  it  again,"  added 
Patty. 


. 


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